Ace of Spades
by moonlit.nocturne
Summary: Luffy and Co. meet a bartender by the name of Ava Spade. Joining the crew only on the condition that Luffy know nothing of her past, Spade is an enigmatic figure whose mask only crumbles when she meets Ace, whom she's been avoiding. AceXOC
1. Spade

**Ace of Spades **

Fanfiction Based off of: One Piece

Original Story: Eichiiro Oda

**Chapter 1: Spade**

The sky was cloudy, dark, damp. It was late. Two people could be seen at the edge of a ship in the middle of the ocean.

A woman. Green eyes. She spoke quietly.

"Marco."

"Ace sleeping?"

"Yeah."

"Poor guy…knocked out like a light."

A shrug.

"Whatcha just shruggin' for? Guy just got beat up for you."

"…Weak."

"Don't be sayin' somethin' like that. Tried his best. You couldn' do better, y'know."

"Tch. I'm leaving."

"What?!"

"No point staying here any longer. I'm leaving. Taking a spare boat, Marco. Tell the others when I'm gone."

"Hey, whoa, girlie, you can't just _leave_, what about Ace?"

"What about him?"

"C'mon Skye…"

"It's Spade. Don't talk to me like you're so familiar."

"It's been two years since you came on this ship…some familiarity's gotta be assumed, y'know? Spade, you can't just leave. That'll kill Ace."

"He won't die from something that petty. I'm leaving. Tell him when he wakes."

"Skye…"

A pause. Some scuffling, a splash. A boat floated over the edge of the ship.

"See you later, Marco. Learned a lot from you."

"Spade, I'm gonna wake up Ace."

"Let him sleep. Even if you do go, I'll be gone long before you get him outta bed."

"Just wait a moment, Spade. I'll go wake him."

Marco went inside the barracks, finding a heavily bandaged teenager snoring loudly on a bed.

"Hey, Ace, wake up."

A grunt.

"Wake up, kid. Spade's leaving."

The teenager continued snoring.

A sound came from outside. A thud against the wall. Marco left the sleeping male and returned to the deck where he left the woman. She was nowhere to be seen. He looked over the edge. Blue waters. The boat was gone.

He turned around and looked at the wooden wall of the barrack. A dagger had been thrown, nailing up the center of a playing card. Marco took a step closer to see what it was.

Ace of spades.

******************

"Zoro!" Luffy called. "Look, Zoro, there's a _bar_!"

"Wanna drink?" the swordsman grinned, pushing open the doors to a small but crowded bar. Given the late hour, Zoro assumed that the inhabitants were a bunch of workers that wanted to kick back and relax on Friday night. Nevertheless, the pub was jam-packed with people, young and old, mostly male, which made the bar seem like a very popular one.

A lone girl was behind the bar, dressed casually in cuffed shorts and a tight white short-sleeve, completed with a dark gray vest and a matching beret hat. Dark black hair, cropped short, barely protruded out from under the hat. She stood out of the crowd, the only slightly sophisticated looking one in a sea of ruckus.

Zoro and Luffy squeezed their ways through, finally finding empty seats right in front of the girl.

"Hey," she said lazily. "What can I get ya?"

"Where's the bartender?" Luffy asked, stupidly looking around.

The girl gave a grin. "I _am_ the bartender. Surprised? It's alright, everyone is the first time. But believe me, I can do my job. So what can I get ya two?"

"Sake," Zoro said easily.

"That's it?"

"Sure."

The bartender rolled her eyes, which Zoro noticed to be a peculiar green, and turned around to grab a bottle of sake from the fridge. She placed it indecorously in front of the swordsman and turned her attention to Luffy.

"And for you, kiddo?"

"Beer!"

"Jeez, you guys make a bartender's life boring," she smirked, setting a tankard in front of the seventeen year old pirate. "So what brings you here? This is just a tiny island in the middle of nowhere, miles away from the coast of Alabasta; nothing to see, if you're just touring around."

"We're pirates!" said Luffy excitedly.

"Idiot," Zoro said with a roll of his eyes. "You're not supposed to go telling people you're a pirate."

"Why not?" the bartender said with a shrug. "It's not a terrible thing. Some pirates are all right. We get a few pirates here and there…"

"All of them good?" Zoro challenged.

She gave a cryptic smile. "Some."

"What happens to the ones who aren't?"

"I kick them out," she answered breezily.

He took a better look at the woman. She radiated an aura of confidence; her arms, though thin, were muscled and fit. She was in good shape…perhaps around the same amount of strength as Nami.

"What are you guys doing here?!" a female voice yelled in Zoro's ear.

Speak of the devil…

"Hey, Nami!" Luffy greeted. "Wanna drink?"

"No thanks," she snapped. "We're supposed to be in Alabasta soon, think about Vivi!"

"Aw, c'mon," Zoro groaned. "We can kick back for a while. There's no point sailing away at this rate…"

"I suppose," Nami sighed, slipping into a seat.

"Where's Vivi anyway?"

"Back at the ship with the rest of the crew."

"Anything for you, dear?" the bartender asked.

"Oh!" Nami gave a small exclamation, just noticing the bartender. "Oh, sorry about that. It's probably best if I don't drink anything alcoholic…"

"I can make things without alcohol, dear."

"Oh. Sure, then."

"And that, gentlemen, is a much better response from a customer. Sake and beer…you guys'll bore me to death."

She bustled over the shelves, reaching up for a bottle on the highest shelf. Her hand knocked over the side bottles as she took the one she needed, causing a domino effect of crashing and falling.

"Careful!" Nami exclaimed.

The bartender leaned out and caught one jar lazily with her free hand, catching another simultaneously by sticking out her left boot. The cork landed perfectly on the tip of her shoe, balancing shakily.

"Whew," the girl let out a breath. "That would've cost me a fortune if it crashed…"

She kicked the wine bottle up and caught it between her third and fourth fingers, placing it gently in front of Nami.

"Pretty dexterous, aren't you?" Zoro remarked, eyes cloudy with suspicion.

"Things like that happen all the time," she answered, taking out a dusty glass from the cabinet and washing it. "If I didn't learn how to catch those by now, I'd be very much in debt." She set the glass by the bottles. "Now…I didn't need this one…"

She walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out another two bottles. Measuring and pouring the liquids into a container with one block of ice, she stirred it easily and poured it out into the martini glass.

"Cinderella," she announced, placing it in front of Nami. "Just three juices put together; no alcohol. Tastes good though."

Nami took a sip, her eyes lighting up immediately.

"Wow! This is great! Thank you."

"You're welcome," the bartender replied.

"What's your name?" Luffy asked bluntly. He seemed to have been contemplating the question for a while.

"Ava Spade. I go by Spade."

"Want to join my crew?"

"What?!" Zoro and Nami exclaimed. "You can't just ask someone to—"

"I want a bartender. I'm gonna be the Pirate King, I've gotta have a bartender!"

"You don't even have a bar on deck!"

"Oh, hell…" Spade groaned, eyes focused past the pirates and into the crowd. She hadn't been listening to their conversation for a while.

Zoro turned around to see what she was staring at, eyes landing on a group of bulky men, very drunk, who were beginning to start a brawl.

"What?!" one shouted. "You're supposed to pay!"

"Hell, I paid last time! This one's your treat!"

Spade leapt agilely over the table and into the growing crowd as the two men began to circle around, cracking their knuckles.

"Hey!" Her feminine voice was easily discerned through the low grunts. "Break it off!"

"Stay out of this, girlie!"

There was a loud bang as a figure went crashing into the wall. Zoro stood up, unsheathing his sword.

"Zoro, what're you doing?" Luffy asked.

"Helping out Spade, right? I mean, it's one girl with a horde of guys…"

"She's fine," the captain said simply, pointing at the crowd.

Spade was more than fine. It seemed that she had been the one who had sent the man flying, and she was preparing for another kick.

"The rule," she shouted, balancing herself on a table, "is _no fighting_! If you don't want to pay, I'll just put it on your tab! Men like you guys are so dense!"

She swung around rammed her knee into the face of the other brawler, causing him to stumble back and crash onto the ground, his face bloody.

"Clear off!" she ordered.

The man didn't need a second warning, scrambling away as soon as he regained his sense of balance. Spade gave a sigh, dusting off her clothes.

"Jeez…"

"Awesome!" Luffy said happily. "I gotta bartender who can fight!"

"She hasn't even said 'yes!' You can't just assume they're going to join!" Nami said indignantly.

"Why not?"

"Luffy, use your head for once…" Zoro grinned.

Spade returned to the pirates, shaking her head.

"Sorry 'bout that," she said. "We have fights in here…a lot."

"It's a pub. It's expected," Nami said. "Say, Miss Spade—"

"Spade's just fine."

"D'you know anywhere we can stay for tonight?"

"Upstairs," Spade answered, gesturing above her. "I've got a few rooms available…but don't you have a ship?"

"We'll be staying on land tonight."

"Right. Well, I'll be happy to have ya. At a price, of course."

"Of course…" Nami said dryly. "It better not be an inflated price."

"Course not. Hundred beli per room?"

"Fine…" the navigator responded grudgingly.

"I'll show you there," Spade said brightly. "Let's go."

******************

"Everything all right?" Spade called, poking her head into a room.

"Yes!" Nami's voice came floating back from the bathroom. "Ah, this bath is heaven!"

"Good to hear."

The bartender stepped lightly down the stairs, having already checked the men's room to see if everything is fine, and returned to the now-empty bar. She sighed at the mess and grabbed a broom from behind the door just as a loud knocking shot through the silence. Eyes narrowed in suspicion, she strode over to the entrance and yanked open the door.

"Ava Spade?" a man inquired, clothed in a Marine uniform, accompanied by two others.

"That's me," she replied coolly.

"Come with me."

Spade grabbed a leather pouch from a counter and tucked it under her belt, following the three men briskly into the moonlit street.

"Looks like you guys found me again," she said tersely when they stopped behind the building. "Damn, and I was just starting to rake in the dough too…"

"We're here to offer you a proposition," the Marine officers said importantly. "If you want us to stop bothering you, accept it."

"No. I already know what you're about to offer. I want nothing to do with the Marines."

"Are you aware that we could arrest you at any time?"

"You're not that capable."

"We're offering you a very good deal, Spade. Pardoning all your past crimes, withdrawing your bounty in return for your position as a Shichibukai."

"Shichibukai, eh? There're seven already. Don't see why you need me."

"We can make it eight."

"No thanks."

"Very well…a pity. Gentlemen, arrest her."

Spade reached into the pouch at her belt and sent two daggers, hilts out first, flying into the throats of the soldiers. Before they had a change to retaliate, she leapt up and kneed the two sidekicks in the face, twisting midair and slamming the main official's head in between his subordinates'. The three of them collapsed onto the ground as Spade did a handstand and flipped gracefully back onto her feet. She patted her hands and stared at the three unconscious men, thinking.

"Hey," she called. "I know you're there. Wanna give me a hand?"

The swordsman that should've been sleeping stepped out of the shadows. He gazed at her with a suspicious look on his face.

"You're a buff guy," Spade commented. "Help me haul these guys onto a ship and send them away."

"You're a good fighter," Zoro said, his face shadowed with wariness. "Good enough to be Shichibukai?"

"They're just exaggerating," she said mildly, hauling one unconscious male over her shoulder and dragging the other two with her hands. "What a nice guy," she added sarcastically, "helping a poor girl with her burdens."

Zoro sighed and unloaded her of the one on his shoulder.

"I'm not complaining," he said, "seeing as these guys are Marines. Saves us a bit of trouble. But seeing you like that makes me not trust you."

"Don't worry," Spade said soothingly. "Like I'd hurt random people."

"So where're you gonna dump these guys?"

"At the port. There's a free boat there…we'll just send them on their way."

The two of them arrived at the waterside, the water shimmering under the reflection of the moon. Spade plunked the two loads into the boat, causing the tiny boat to rock back and forth, sloshing water into it. Zoro unceremoniously dumped the last man in and stood back, watching Spade as she untied the boat from the dock and kicked it off.

"You're gonna need a couple winds…" Zoro said skeptically.

The words were scarcely out of his mouth when a wind came, blowing the boat into the distance and out of sight.

"Convenient," grumbled Zoro.

Spade shrugged.

"Hey, was your captain being serious about me joining your crew?" she asked.

"…Probably."

"Mind if I do?"

"Why? That's a bit sudden."

"Marines found me, I gotta get going. I'm a veteran pirate. I've sailed all over the Grand Line…I daresay I'd be of some use."

"…No offense, you're a bit suspicious."

"I suppose," she said, exhaling. "Guess I can't join then."

Zoro seemed to be studying here intently. He opened his mouth to speak when a call broke through the silence.

"ZORO!" Luffy shouted. "Where are you? Did you get lost again?!"

"Over here!" the first mate yelled back. "And _no_, I didn't get lost!"

Luffy skipped over, eyes lighting up as he saw Spade.

"Hey, Ava!"

"It's Spade."

"I like Ava more. Want to join my crew?"

"Luffy," Zoro began warningly.

The captain shrugged off Zoro's warning.

"C'mon, it'd be fun!" Luffy said brightly. "Join my crew!"

"I wouldn't mind," Spade said slowly. "But your first mate seems a bit unwilling."

"How'd you know I was first mate?" Zoro demanded.

She gave a cryptic smile.

"Intuition."

"Aw, ignore Zoro. He's just paranoid! Join my crew!"

"Sure."

"Sweet!" crowed Luffy.

"But…I have a few conditions."

Luffy grew serious at Spade's tone.

"What?" he asked warily.

"Don't, under any circumstances, pry about my past."

"Why?"

"You'll take what I give you. In addition…I'm a veteran pirate of the Grand Line; I've been much farther than you guys might ever make it to. However…I think that it's up to the captain to navigate through trials and trouble. I…won't help you with the navigation or major problems unless I deem it _absolutely necessary_. Are you willing to accept that?"

Spade met Luffy's eyes sternly, awaiting his answer. If the kid didn't take her condition, she'd have to hightail out of here in the morning, as she had done for the past year. But something about the kid intrigued her, and she had the vaguest feeling that Luffy would be someone important, and she'd want to be there to see it. Besides, it'd been a year since she'd left Ace's ship, and she was itching to get back onto the seas. It all depended on Luffy, all on his naivety and willingness to accept help from strangers…

"Okay," Luffy said innocently.

"What?!" Zoro exclaimed. "Luffy, she said she might not even _help_ you—"

Spade gave a rare smile and took Luffy's outstretched hand.

"It's a deal then, captain."

"Welcome aboard!"

**Free Talk**

Hello! I'll be talking here and there after chapters to ask for your opinion and comments/questions.

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Even though Ace is briefly mentioned already, it will be a little while (perhaps another chapter or so) until he pops up. Believe me, this _is_ AcexOC!

There's really not much to say. Spade's personality, ability, and past will take a while to develop, so please bear with me.

Please review and tell me what you think!!! I like reviews. :)


	2. Old Faces

**Chapter 2: Old Faces**

A few days had passed since Spade joined the Strawhat Pirates. They were sailing towards Alabasta, a country undergoing a revolution, and needed to arrive there as quickly as possible.

Nami noticed that ever since Spade had joined, the ship had had no problem sailing with good winds and clear skies. She shoved the notion aside, however, deeming the bartender's appearance simply as an auspicious addition to the group.

******************

"Be careful not to hit that rock," a voice said from above them. "I'm so lucky that I found you."

The crewmembers whirled around, their caution at their highest point after barely escaping from the cactus island and narrowly missing the explosion that had gotten Mr. Eight of Baroque Works. Vivi's eyes widened at the sight of the speaker.

"Ms. All-Sunday!" she exclaimed.

"Ms. Wednesday, I got Mr. Eight over there," the dark-haired woman smirked.

"You killed—!!"

"Who're you?" Luffy asked without belligerence.

Spade sat at the far edge of the ship, behind the rest of the members, watching Nico Robin as she terrorized the group. What an unexpected face…joining the Strawhats had certainly provided a great deal of excitement and activity, but Spade had not anticipated the turn of events and the sudden appearance of a nostalgic face. The crew's conversation and demands faded away as Spade thought of what to do.

There was a chance Robin didn't remember her. It had been so long ago that Spade had met her, and it had only been for a few brief minutes, crucial as they were. Or…perhaps it would just be best to sit still and hope Robin didn't notice her. After only a few days of being on deck, Spade wasn't anxious for everyone to find out her identity.

She sighed and reached below her for two bottles of liquid she'd stashed there, the silver bracelet that she constantly wore sliding down her wrist. Champagne and beer. Spade dusted off a glass and poured the carbonated liquids carefully, leaning back and leveling the foam off after three seconds. Perfect. She returned the bottles beneath the floorboards and sipped the Black Velvet leisurely as she watched the drama.

Robin tossed a Lock Post to Vivi.

"That's an Eternal Post to Alabasta. You can follow the route and even our boss can't stop you," Robin explained with an enigmatic smile.

"So she's a good person?" Nami asked, confused.

"It's a trap," Zoro declared.

"I'll let you decide if it's a trap or not," Robin said cryptically.

"Don't worry about that," Luffy snapped, reaching over and taking the Lock Post in his hand. With a quick grip of his hand, he shattered the Lock Post into pieces.

"You _idiot_!" Nami screeched. "Are you crazy?! If she's really good, she just handed us the easy way there and you just destroyed it!"

"You don't have a right to decide our route!" Luffy shouted, words directed towards Robin.

"Really?" Robin said, eyebrows raised. "A pity."

"You're crazy!" Nami shouted.

"I hate her because she destroyed curly-hair old man's ship!"

"I don't mind someone like you," Robin smiled, eyes trailing over the rest of the crew. "Good spirit."

Spade's green eyes met Robin's, unyielding. Robin's smile widened.

"Well, well, well," she said, "look what we have here."

"Long time no see," Spade smirked. "Been what…five years or so?"

"Give or take. I was…let's see…twenty-three. So yes, five years. You were a kid back then…how old were you?"

"Fifteen."

"Damn. It's been a while."

Zoro's head was swiveling back and forth between the two women as they conversed.

"You know her?!" he said, eyes narrowed.

"Met her once," Spade said, drinking her Black Velvet.

"Twice," Robin corrected.

"I only remember the time I let you off."

"It was even. I let you off once too."

Spade shrugged. "I don't keep track."

"So you're a pirate now? Interesting turn of events…since when did you join this group?"

"Few days ago."

"I see," Robin said, interested. "So they don't—"

"No, they don't," Spade interrupted, a tint of warning in her voice. "And they don't need to know."

"Sure…not about your excitement-filled past…"

Robin leaned back on the deck, apparently thinking about spilling out the portion of Spade's past that Spade didn't want to have let out, a part that even Ace never knew. Spade put a finger to her lips, asking her silently to keep quiet. Robin gave her a devilish grin.

"You owe me."

"Whatever."

"It's two-to-one now, Spade."

"Sure, sure. Wanna drink?"

"No thanks, I prefer coffee over alcohol. Well, then, I'll be going," Robin said, hopping off the edge of the deck. "If you're lucky, we'll meet again."

"Who'd want to meet you?" Luffy said rudely.

Robin disappeared amid exclamations over her escape route, a gigantic turtle, while Zoro turned to Spade with a face clouded with suspicion.

"Who was she?"

"Mrs. All-Sunday," Spade answered indifferently.

"You guys've met. You could be part of the enemy, part of the Baroque Works—"

"Oh please," Spade snapped. "The Baroque Works' Agents didn't know me at all. You heard her, she called me by my name, not by some 'Ms.' crap. Get a grip on yourself, first-mate."

"I don't trust you," Zoro said frankly.

"Luffy does."

"That guy trusts anyone."

"Jeez, don't worry," Spade said, swishing the contents of her glass in front of her. "I'm not going to hurt you guys. I'm just interested in this group…Luffy has some ambitious dreams, and I'm curious to see how it'll turn out."

"You don't make sense," the first-mate said coldly. "You're asking too much of us. Refusing to help or give us directions—"

"No one could give you directions in the Grand Line, mate. You're lucky that Nami has a natural feel for navigation, or you guys would've been sailing in circles. Or you would've been dead. One way or another."

"Are you really a friend?!"

"You can consider me that," Spade answered coolly, downing the rest of her drink, her mood spoiled. "Don't worry, this whole Alabasta stuff, I'll help you out. It's not like I'll just sit here and do nothing."

"Fine."

Luffy came bouncing over as Nami gave Sanji orders to correct which and which sail and to steer towards what direction.

"Hey, Ava!" he greeted. "Can I get a drink?"

"Sure, captain. What d'you want?"

"…Anything?"

"I'll just make another Black Velvet…"

She rustled under the floorboards for the bottles and uncorked them with a pop, aware that Zoro's gaze never left her face. Spade poured the liquids elegantly into an empty glass and handed it to Luffy, who took it and downed it in one go. She shook her head. Drinks were meant to be savored…

"You want one too, first-mate?"

"Just some sake," Zoro said tersely. "I don't need all the fancy stuff you make."

"Fine," Spade said, rolling her shoulders back easily. "I don't particularly care that you don't trust me."

"What?" Luffy asked, looking between the two. "Why don't you trust Ava, Zoro?"

"She was definitely fraternizing with the enemy just a few minutes ago, Luffy."

"Oh, that? Really? It seemed to me that they were enemies…with all the whole 'letting each other off' talk."

"We were sort of enemies," Spade said vaguely. "I was chasing her, she was chasing me, and whenever we actually found each other, nothing happened. We ended up letting each other go. That's all."

"See?" said the captain. "Nothing to be worried about, Zoro."

"Uh-huh," Zoro said skeptically.

"Oh, just drop the cynicism, mate," Spade said with a wave of her hand. "I'm going to go help Navi out with the navigation a bit, all right? You two just sit tight for a moment."

She walked easily over to Nami and Vivi, who were engaged in discussion about their next course of action.

"We need to go east," Nami insisted. "It's the fastest way because a storm's coming from the northwest…oh jeez, this is going to be tough…there're no winds though, and we need a strong one blowing that direction."

"East, dear?" Spade asked, bending over the map.

"Yeah," Nami said fervently, nodding her head. "Ava, could you help out Sanji and Usopp? They seem to be having a bit of trouble."

"No problem," Spade said indolently, waltzing over to the two men.

"Ava!" Sanji greeted eagerly.

Why did everyone insist on calling her that?

"It's Spade…"

"But Ava sounds much more feminine."

"But I like Spade…"

"And I like Ava," Sanji said in a tone that settled the discussion. "You hungry?"

"Nah, I just made myself a drink," she replied, adjusting the rope connected to the main sail of the Going Merry. "I'm pretty full."

"Drinking alcohol this early in the morning's bad for your health and appetite," he said sternly. His mood lightened up as he looked at Spade's hand. "Is that a bracelet? Gorgeous! Suits your looks, Ava-san."

"…Thanks."

"A bit thick though…it almost looks like a handcuff. Not that it looks bad!"

"…Thanks?"

"Now," Sanji said importantly, obviously wishing to change the awkward subject, "where does Nami-san want to go?"

"East."

"Well…there're no winds…"

A strong gust of wind blew at them as Sanji finished speaking. The sail captured its energy, and the ship began to move.

"Yes!" Nami called. "It's a wind! Luffy, steer, you idiot!"

"All right!" the captain crowed as he took the wheel. "To Alabasta!"

* * * * * *

Spade ran, panting, through the brambles and branches of the forest. Stray sticks cut her across the cheeks, drawing blood, but the fifteen year old ran stubbornly on. Finally, she'd found her. Nico Robin, age twenty-three, bounty: 79 million beli. Excellent. Turn her in, and Spade would never have to worry about living expenses again.

She arrived at a clearing and stopped, struggling for breath. Robin had stopped at the dead end: a cliff, overlooking the rest of the island at a precipitous location. Spade grinned.

"It's over, Nico Robin," she said, fingering the throwing dagger in her hand. "Turn yourself in."

Robin crossed her hands, forming an X, causing a multitude of hands to emerge from the ground under Spade. She was already used to Robin's attacks, and simply leapt up against a tree, ricocheting herself off and towards the criminal.

"Game over, Robin-san," Spade said, pointing the blade at her throat. "The rest are going to be here any minute now; I've already told them on the Den Den Mushi. Just sit tight and await your fate."

"Let me go," Robin said coldly.

"Not a chance."

"You owe me one."

"No, I don't."

"Stop feigning ignorance; you know I let you off the last time."

"That was your choice; I'm not obliged to return the favor."

"Shut it, Spade. You're not so dishonorable as to actually turn me in when you still owe me your life."

Spade gritted her teeth. "I've been chasing you for a year now, Nico Robin. It's been my longest tracking mission, and I'm not about to let its completion slip away."

"Ohara," Robin said suddenly.

"What?" said Spade, surprised. "Isn't that the name of your home island?"

"Was," Robin corrected with a bit of anger. "Look it up, Spade."

"I have," the pursuer said coolly. "Ohara's scholars were tampering with a subject that the Marines deemed dangerous, hence the island was subject to the Buster Call…"

"You've been reading only the surface," said Robin. "There's more to it than it seems. Let me go, Spade."

"I'm not going to let you leave just because you gave me some half-assed hint about your island—"

"You guys aren't all that you think," she interrupted. "Let me off this time, Spade, and go look it up. You won't regret it."

Spade hesitated, her interest piqued by the short conversation. She could hear the cracking sounds of branches under the feet of men. They were here. The moment of decision had arrived…

"Let me go," Robin repeated hurriedly.

"Fine," Spade snapped, retracting the blade. "Leave. I'll do what you say and investigate Ohara a bit more, but I swear, if what you gave me is some bullshit way of getting out of this, I _will_ find you and kill you by myself."

"Suit yourself," Robin answered. She crossed her arms in front of her. "Cien Fleur Wing."

Wings made out of hands sprouted from Robin's back, and she fluttered over the cliff.

"See you later, Spade," she said with a bold smile, and disappeared.

* * * * * *

"We're here!" Vivi's voice echoed over the deck. "That's Nanohana, Alabasta's port town!"

"Food!" Luffy crowed. "Yes!! I'm starving!"

The winds that had been favorable since they'd left Cactus Island grew stronger, blowing the ship quickly towards the dock. It had been a few days since they'd seen land, and the entire crew was growing antsy with the lack of activity. Luffy hopped over the edge of the ship and was gone before they could even anchor.

"That idiot!" Nami hissed. "I wish he'd pay more attention to that bounty on his head!"

"He'll be fine," Spade said, leaning over the edge and dropping the anchor into the clear water. "If we're lucky, there won't be any Marines around. Are you guys going to go on land too?"

"We should," Vivi said. "We'll need to get supplies for the desert trek. Ava-san, be sure to get anything you might need as well."

"I need to go to a weapon store," the green-eyed girl said, adjusting a cowboy hat over her short hair. "I'm running low on knives."

"I'll come with you," Zoro said. "I'll go check out the swords too."

"You have _three_," Spade said with a roll of her eyes. "You have more swords than hands. Why would you need anymore?"

"Shut up."

"Meet us back at the ship," Sanji called as they departed. "We're going to go look for clothes and supplies."

The two pirates made their way through the bustling crowd rather easily, as Zoro's towering height and scowl let him part the crowd easily. Spade simply followed in his shadow, enjoying the lack of pushing and shoving that she would've needed to endure had it not been for the tall swordsman.

"Hey," Zoro said, stopping suddenly and causing Spade to run into him.

"Don't just stop in the middle of nowhere," she said irascibly. "What?"

"You've been helpful these last few days," he said.

She stared at him with incredulity.

"You stopped in the middle of the crowd to say _that_? Right, well, thanks for stating the obvious."

"I just meant to say sorry," Zoro said shortly. "For…"

"Being a mistrustful jerk. That's fine, though. I know I seem a bit shady. Now that that's done, let's move on."

Zoro shook his head and gave a twisted smile at her impertinence, turning around and leading the way to a small weaponry shop. He opened the door, jangling the entrance bell, and grew stiff.

Spade peered over Zoro's bulky shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"Do you really need weapons?" he said tersely.

"Yeah, I'm running low."

He moved gingerly in, Spade sticking close to him and scanning the room. Aside from the clutters of swords, daggers, and spears, there was no one in the room except for the plump manager and a black-haired woman with glasses perched over her forehead.

Zoro made his way to a shelf of swords, his back turned towards the woman.

"See that woman over there?" he said, jerking his head in her direction.

"Yeah, what about her?"

"Her name's Tashigi or something…she's a Marine," he said in a low voice. "I met her once…and we…er, had an incident. She's bound to remember me. So…just grab your stuff and let's get outta here."

"It takes a long time to examine daggers," Spade grumbled. "Rushing me isn't going to let me choose the best ones."

"Just live with it."

Without another word, Spade fumbled through the pouches of daggers, throwing open the covers of each of the wooden cases. None of the sets, pouched or cased, were up to par with the permanent set she had, or even the last temporary one.

"Do you need help, ma'am?" the store manager asked.

"Yeah," she said, whirling around and ignoring Zoro's signs to not attract attention. The Marine woman turned to look at Spade, and Zoro stared determinedly out the window.

"Just show me your best sets of throwing knives or daggers," Spade continued. "And don't try to sell me some cheap ones for an exorbitant price. I'll know if you do."

The manager hustled over to her, reaching to the highest shelf and withdrawing two cases, one made out of ebony wood and the other made out of oak, but gilded in silver trimmings. Spade flipped open the covers and examined them, expertly flipping them over in her hand and studying the thin blades. There were twenty in each set, decently made, though not spectacular.

"I'll take them both," Spade said finally. It wasn't like she was going to get anything better. "How much?"

"One hundred thousand each."

"Give me a break," Spade snarled. "One hundred thousand together is more like it."

"Not a chance."

"Then forget it," she said, setting the cases down and heading for the door.

Zoro started after her, surprised.

"Didn't you need them?" he questioned.

"Wait for it," she murmured, deliberately walking slowly. "One…two…and three…"

"Hey, fine, take them!" the manager called with much effort. "Fifty thousand beli a set…you're a murderer, ya hear? Trying to kill me and not let me have a profit…"

"You're joking," the female pirate said, slamming the bills in his fat hand and taking the cases. "My old set was far better, and I got that one for thirty thousand. You're getting a profit by far, my good man."

"Can we go now?" Zoro said, bringing his voice up to audible levels and turning around. "I mean, she's still—"

"RORONOA ZORO!"

"Oh, shit."

"Way to go," Spade said lightly. "Let's run for it."

Zoro grabbed Spade's arm and the two of them darted through the crowds.

"Come back here!" Tashigi yelled, her glasses sliding down her face as she followed them.

"This way!" Spade said, pulling Zoro to the right.

"Why?" he shouted.

"There's…" she paused, thinking and expanding her senses. The wind was blowing fiercely at them, and she could taste…a familiar sense of sophistication coming with it.

"There's what?" Zoro bellowed.

"Marines!" she shouted, pulling him away from the street. "Back to the ship!"

"How do you know there're Marines?!"

"Intuition, now come on!"

They dashed through an alleyway, Tashigi nowhere to be seen.

"I think we lost her," Spade said, not slowing down the pace. "But we came at a bad time; the city's full of Marines! Hopefully Luffy and the others didn't get in trouble…"

They emerged from the alley at top speed, almost running over Luffy. Speak of the devil.

"Zoro! Ava!" Luffy said with a wide grin. "Sorry, I sort of made a big scene."

"Sort of?!" Zoro yelled. "We had the entire Marines on our tail!"

"Oh, and the Smoker guy."

"_He's_ here too?!"

"Smoker?" Spade repeated as the three made their way to the Going Merry. "Oh, wow…well, they're not following you, Luffy. What happened?"

"My brother came!" he said excitedly. "He said he'll meet up with us after we set sail."

"Your brother? Is he alone?"

"Don't worry, Ava! He's really strong."

The pirates jumped up the side of the ship as it began to pull out. Nami and the rest had managed to make it back in time.

"I _told_ you to be careful!" Nami screeched, hitting Luffy across the head. "That was a narrow miss!"

"It's okay, my brother showed up!"

"Your brother?" Nami said, startled.

"Yeah, he'll be here in a few minutes."

"Ava-chan!" Sanji called, waving a rather risqué outfit in his hand. "Why don't you put this on before we get there? It'll be hot in the desert!"

"Sanji, this is a dancer's dress…"

"That's fine! It'll suit you perfectly."

Zoro snorted.

"I'll take it," Spade said dryly. "And," her words now directed towards the first-mate, "keep your comments to yourself, kiddo."

She climbed the stairs and slipped into empty cabin to change. Voices grew louder outside, leading to Spade's assumption that Luffy's brother had arrived. She was anxious to see the guy, seeing how Luffy was so…peculiar.

Spade stepped out, blinded for a moment by the scorching sun, and leaned out over the rail.

"Hey, Luffy, what's your brother called—"

She stopped speaking as the crewmembers below turned to face her, recognizing a face that she swore she never wanted to see again.

"Oh, hell no…" she breathed, her grip tightening on the rails.

"Skye? Is that you, Skye?"

It was Ace. Damn her luck.

**Free Talk**

Hello again! Thank you to all for reviewing and/or Story Alerting and/or Favorite-ing! :) It made me feel very special, and I hope you continue to support me as this story develops!

Yes, I did tamper with the timeline. Robin is supposed to show up right after they meet Vivi, but it was sort of a small thing that I forgot about, so yeah…sorry about that. I'm also probably going to be skipping around a lot, because honestly, I don't care about Crocodile and stuff. I'm probably just going to be like BAM and it's over. What's important about this arc is that Robin joins…haha. So please bear with me.

Oh, yeah, something for clarification. If I'm switching point of view or jumping ahead in time, I'll use a string of asterisks, like this:

******************

But if it's a flashback, I'll use six asterisks with spaces in between, like this:

* * * * * *

I hope that clarifies things. :) If not, please tell me and I'll come up with something else!

So Ace does arrive in this chapter (though in the last like…three sentences), and it will be an action-packed next chapter. Although I said that this would be AceXOC, I'm going to titter-totter between AceXOC and ZoroXOC, because Ace isn't around that much. The ultimate conclusion, well, I'll come up with later. :)

Please please please review!

love, -jenni-


	3. Hiken no Ace

**Chapter 3: Hiken no Ace**

"You've gotta be kidding me," Spade said wryly. "_You're_ Luffy's brother?"

"Yeah, I am," Ace managed to say after a moment's worth of gawking.

There was a tense pause.

Luffy finally piped up. "So you know Ava, Ace?"

"Ava?" Ace said, looking between his brother and Spade. "Her name's Skye."

"No, it's Ava."

"It's Spade," she said shortly. "What the hell are you doing here, Ace? Whitebeard's pirates are all much farther in the Grand Line. Alabasta's considered child's play."

"I'm following someone."

"Who?"

"Blackbeard," Ace replied. "You remember him? He killed a crewmate, so I'm following him to punish him."

"Right. Good luck with that. Now go the hell away."

"What's wrong with you?" Ace demanded, beginning to get annoyed. "You disappeared on me for no particular reason—"

"I had a reason, dumbass. I was tired of your idolatry for Whitebeard, your incessant 'I'll make him the Pirate King,' the care for him like he was your lover or something—"

"_You_ were my lover—"

"I couldn't stand it any longer," Spade said loudly, drowning out Ace's interruption. "I left, and I told Marco to tell you to just forget about it all."

"So what have you been doing this last year?"

"Bartending," she said with a snarl. "I joined this group on a whim, and if I even had the slightest hunch that Luffy, of all people, was your brother, I wouldn't have even considered—"

"I don't get it," Luffy interrupted, frowning. "How exactly do you guys know each other?"

"Ever hear of Ace of Spades, Luffy?" Ace asked tersely.

"No."

"I have," Nami said, her eyes concentrated on Ace. "Ace of Spades was a duo about a year or so ago, really famous for…" She gasped loudly. "No way…"

"Go on, little missy," Ace said.

"But…that means…Ava—that's impossible!"

"But it makes sense, right?" said Ace, gesturing between Spade and himself. "I'm Ace, she's Spade."

"I'm confused!" Luffy said loudly.

"Ace of Spades was a notorious duo among Whitebeard's pirates," Nami explained shakily. "They originally from the Spade Pirates, which was then assimilated into Whitebeard's crew. One member was the commander of the second division of Whitebeard's pirates, and the other was a woman…together, they had a bounty of over five hundred million beli! That's you, Ava?! You're the Spade?!"

"Yeah," Ace replied in place for her. "Skye Spade…we were partners. I was commander, she was second-in-command on our ship. Hell, we were unstoppable."

"Until the Shichibukai came," Spade said coldly. "I left, Ace, because you lost."

"No," he said, "you left because you didn't want me to get in trouble."

"What?"

"I did some digging, Skye. I found out a good bit of your past. You left because you didn't want to see me get killed."

"Stop flattering yourself," she said, her voice icy and bitter. "Giving yourself stupid explanations as to why I left…you're too naïve, Ace. You're still weak."

"You wanna bet, Skye?"

"Stop calling me that," she snapped.

"Why? Everyone else couldn't, but you never minded when I did--"

"Stop assuming things!" she said hotly, her frustration peaking and spilling over. "Everything's over, Ace! I'm not the same as before!"

"You're right, you're not. You're a hell lot prettier, even with your short hair—"

Spade didn't want to hear his compliments, didn't want to hear his voice, didn't want to even see that tanned freckly face for any longer. She leapt over the edge of the second floor railing and aimed to stomp Ace's face in.

He had been sitting on the railing lining the edge of the main ship and dodged her foot easily. Spade reflexively reached over for the steel bars, preventing herself from flying over into the waters, and conducted a smooth handstand, balancing herself with one hand as she propelled herself over for another kick. Ace did not have enough room to move, but her black stiletto passed through him like smoke.

"You forgot, Skye?" he grinned, his face materializing again.

"Of course not," she said frostily, her face screwed up in concentration. "Mera Mera no Mi. Annoying."

"And unbeatable."

"Don't get cocky," Spade growled. "Anything made with sea stone can hurt you."

"Eh?"

Spade whipped out a dagger from her belt. It was her largest one, meant for hand-to-hand combat unlike the temporary long-distance throwing knives she'd just bought. She brought it towards Ace's figure, slashing forward. The idiot, confident as always, stood still.

The blade was a special one, made out of sea stone and able to negate any ability of a Fruit user. The tip of it grazed Ace's chest, drawing blood. The Whitebeard pirate managed to move at the last second, causing the cut to be shallower than Spade had intended.

"Whoa…" Ace marveled, looking at his blood. "Where'd you get _that_?"

"Made it," she answered curtly, rushing forward for another attack.

"That's too straight-forward of an attack, Skye."

Ace disappeared, his speed much quicker than Spade recalled. Spade sensed his presence behind her and whirled around, only to have Ace's fist go crashing into her stomach, throwing her backwards. The force and strength of his punch sent her flying straight into Zoro, who managed to stay upright and halt her movement. She coughed, resisting the desire to throw up, and felt blood trickle down her chin.

"Careful," Zoro warned, helping her stabilize her stance. "This guy's radiating fighting intent. He's strong."

"Yeah, I got that much about three years ago," Spade said harshly. "Thanks, I'll take care of this myself."

"I didn't say I'd help."

"Right, well, stay that way. Make sure the others don't interfere." She brought her hand up to her mouth and wiped the blood away indecorously. "This is my fight."

Spade turned to Ace, who was waiting patiently for her to recover.

"I didn't beat you up too bad, did I, Skye?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Shut it," she retorted. "You've gotten stronger."

"On the other hand, I feel like you've gotten weaker." He scratched his head, causing his cowboy hat to move up and down. "I don't feel like you were this slow a year ago." He shrugged. "But hey, whatever. I'm havin' fun."

"Go to hell."

She raced towards him again, narrowly dodging a fire bullet shot from Ace's hand, dagger in front of her. Ace lazily pulled out the green-hilted knife at his waist and countered the blow. The blades clinked together incessantly; Spade found herself pressured and yielding ground.

"Yeah, you definitely got weaker," Ace concluded as they exchanged blows. "You're giving me ground, Skye. What the hell happened to you last year?"

He brought a palm in front of her; it exploded, sending her flying backwards with a force that broke her through the wooden boundaries of the ship. Her dagger flew out of her hand and clanked away from her. She somehow managed to cling to a hook protruding from the side, her body dangling dangerously from a precipitous height above the treacherous waters. She decided not to remind herself that she couldn't swim.

"Spade!" a voice shouted. It must've been Zoro; he was the only one on the cursed ship that called her by the name she actually liked.

"Stay back," she yelled back.

"She's fine, Zoro," Luffy's voice said. "Don't worry, I know Ava's much stronger than that."

Mustering up her arm strength, her fingers wrapped around the thin hook tightly, Spade booted off the wooden boards and flipped over the edge of the ship, panting slightly.

"You managed to get back?" Ace said condescendingly. "I was about to send the swordsman to go and save you from drowning."

"Why me?" Zoro snapped.

"Well, I can't swim," Ace said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. In a way, it was. "Yep…" he said with a bit of sadness, turning back to Spade. "You've gotten weaker. Or stupider. Or you're just going easy on me. What the hell, Skye? What happened to Kaze Kaze no Mi? You should be immune to physical attacks! What'd you do, forget to use it? For your information, I'm not letting up just because you're a girl, or because we used to be partners."

"Yeah," she breathed, uneasily getting to her feet. "Yeah, I shouldn't be going easy."

Spade dug into the black leather pouch hanging from her belt and withdrew a small silver key.

"What's that?" Ace asked warily.

She didn't answer and instead inserted the key into a small hole in the bracelet dangling from her left wrist. It clicked open, falling to the ground with a thud. She dropped the key in the open pouch and exhaled, closing her eyes as she relished the feel of having no pressure on her shoulders, the absence of the suffocating bracelet on her wrist. Power and her familiar Logia abilities came flowing into her veins, and she smiled, opening her green eyes.

"Was that…a Karouseki handcuff?" asked Ace, astonished.

"Yeah," she replied smoothly. "I figured that I should lay low after I left, but for the first few weeks, Marines kept finding me because I constantly used my Kaze abilities. I swiped the set of handcuffs from Smoker in one of our clashes. Wearing both cuffs was too much of a pain in the ass, so I decided on one, which limited my abilities enough so that I wouldn't use them constantly, and had the other made other into a dagger. Handy, no?"

"Yeah…" Ace's tone revealed his growing caution.

"You're a Fruit user?!" Luffy exclaimed, thrilled. "Awesome!"

"Yeah," Ace said with a trace of bitterness. "_Really_ awesome."

Spade knew he could sense her growing strength and smirked.

"So, Ace. Round Two."

She twisted her hand in the air, causing a tornado to instantaneously form and go crashing down onto the place where Ace was standing. He jumped out of the way and pointed his fingers at her in a gun-type of form.

"Higan!"

Spade sent blasts of wind that cancelled the fire bullets out, using more effort than Ace had.

"If it's just going to be a Devil's Fruit fight, you know I'm going to win," Ace called as Spade's wind blades passed through him. "Neither of our abilities cancel each other out, but wind sure as hell can't get rid of fire."

"You think I don't know that?" Spade snapped. "I worked with you for two years; I've got a good grasp on your weaknesses now."

She stretched her right hand out in the direction of the ocean.

"Landscape's everything, Ace. As long as we're on the ocean, I can win against any Fruit user."

Mustering up the ethereal powers given to her by the cursed fruit, Spade formed a cyclone right outside of the ship's boundaries and pushed it in the water, causing the salty liquid to burst up like a geyser. It hovered there, controlled by the blowing winds.

"Fire's doused by water, Ace," she sneered. "I win."

Spade jumped up and brought the water crashing down onto the deck, soaking its inhabitants. Luffy spat out a mouthful of water and blinked, frowning.

"Ava!" he complained.

"Sorry."

She flew towards Ace, her speed enhanced by her wind and sudden light weight as she made her body almost transparent, solidifying it just in time for her knee to go crashing into Ace's face. Spade felt the blow with no little satisfaction, smirking as she saw Ace's cocky attitude crumble.

She leapt back and immediately prepared for a counterattack, but Ace surprisingly didn't try. He was shaking his head, smiling.

"Got ya," he said.

"What?"

"It's good to see you up and running around at full strength," he laughed. "Look at yourself, Skye. I bet you're feeling the best that you've felt for the last year right now. When I saw you at first, I could tell that you were suppressing yourself, and I figured I'd goad you to release everything. Feel better?"

She frowned. "Shut up."

There was a loud bang coming from a distance, and the group turned to look in the direction of the disturbance. Over fifty ships were gathered about three hundred meters away. Someone was yelling through a speaker.

"It's him! Hiken no Ace, commander of Whitebeard's pirates! Get him, and we'll be made agents for sure!"

The Ace of Spades duo simultaneously raised their arms and gestured in the direction of the ships, Ace's hand in a fist, Spade's hand outstretched.

"Flame Fist!"

"Tatsumaki."

A pillar of flame coupled with a swirling mass of high-speed winds appeared instantly, mixing together as they shot at an incredible speed toward the Baroque Works ships. The Strawhat crew stared agape at the feat.

"Scary," Nami said weakly.

"Too strong," Usopp agreed.

"_Wow_!" Luffy said, jumping over to them.

Ace and Spade merely exchanged glances with the onlookers and returned their gazes to each other. There was an awkward silence.

"You should come back," Ace said finally.

"To where?"

"To Whitebeard's. To my ship."

"No."

"Skye, a crewmember can't be stronger than the captain. Right now, you're much stronger than Luffy is, and it'll disturb the balance. You belong with us."

"Luffy has incredible potential. Don't worry, I'm restraining myself for now, until Luffy becomes stronger than I am. It won't be long before he is, I guarantee you."

"You've sailed this part of the Grand Line already. You'll be bored out of your mind."

"I beg to differ."

She wasn't going to go with him. Not again.

******************

Sanji had managed to sit everyone down and treat them to tea. The entire crew had been rather taken with Ace and his maturity that contrasted so sharply with Luffy's naïveté. Only Spade remained aloof, staring off into the horizon as the sun began to set. She gave a sigh and looked down at the Karouseki handcuff against her wrist. The familiar pressure and restraint was on her shoulders, holding her Devil's Fruit abilities in check.

Spade blew out a breath and went to her favorite place on the ship where she hid all her wines under the floorboards and lifted them up. She chose a bubbly champagne, dusting off a glass and pouring the carbonated liquid in. It was sweet and cool, just how she liked it. For some reason, it wasn't tasting as good as before.

Footsteps approached her, and she turned around to find Ace grinning at her, his cowboy hat cocked to one side. She scowled and returned her gaze to the still waters.

"The navigator says that she should've noticed your Kaze Kaze abilities," he remarked, joining her and leaning against the wooden railing. "Said that they always seemed to have the right winds come at the right time."

"It's easy enough to control winds, even when restrained," Spade shrugged. "Thought I'd help them out a bit. You stuffed?"

"Yeah, though I fell asleep in the middle of the conversation a couple'o times."

She snorted. "That's just like you."

"So what'm I supposed to call you?" he asked. "Ava or Skye?"

"Spade."

"Seriously. Which one's your real name?"

"Both. Skye's my middle name. But it doesn't matter."

"Ha, that means your initials are A-S-S like ass—"

She punched him in the face, causing it to disappear in flames and materialize only when she retracted her hand.

"Sorry, sorry," he said with a roll of his eyes.

"Watch your mouth more," she said, drinking her beverage almost with distaste.

"I'll take that for you," he said easily, leaning over and plucking the wine glass out of her hand. He finished its contents with one gulp. "Y'know, you should refrain from drinking so much. Ruins your temper."

"I really don't drink all that much."

"Still not good for ya, dear."

"Stop it with the affectionate terms, Ace," Spade snapped.

Ace brushed aside her anger and brought an arm around her shoulder.

"Come with me," he said coaxingly. "It'll be fun. Me and you, the Ace of Spades. Just like old days."

"No. The old days are _over_, Ace. The Ace of Spades is gone."

"You sure about that?" Ace said, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing a worn rectangular piece of paper.

It was the ace of spades card she had left behind a year ago. Spade lifted an eyebrow.

"Been keeping that as a memento, haven't you?" she said lightly.

"Leaving this behind was your way of saying good-bye, which meant that you had some reservations about leaving," he explained gently. "I know you haven't forgotten me, Spade. I know you still have some of those feelings left."

"You act like you can read me like a book."

"But in a sense, I can."

"Cut it out!" she said heatedly, escaping his arm. "I know you, Ace. How many women have you slept with over the last year alone?"

"…None?"

She aimed a kick for his face, feeling no satisfaction as he simply disappeared into flames.

"I know you," she repeated, scowling. "Promiscuous, flirtatious…you're mature, I'll grant you that, and you have some common sense, but you're a _womanizer_ and a _jerk_."

"Hey, you're not without faults either. Hot-tempered, loud, violent," he winced as she threw a knife through him, "and uncommonly jealous."

"_Uncommonly_?!"

"Yeah."

"Ace, any woman, if they were your woman, would be jealous at some point in a relationship with you!"

"But I seriously haven't slept with anyone, Skye. I know, you think I'm a playboy and a jerk. But I couldn't bring myself to do it after you left."

She couldn't say anything to that, but simply glared at him.

"I've trained, Skye. I'm a lot stronger now. I think I can stand up to Bartholomew Kuma now. So come back to me."

He offered his hand to her, his skin orange and red under the glow of the sunset. Spade found herself staring at it, memorizing every line and wrinkle, every ridge and contour. She found herself sorely tempted to take it.

**Free Talk**

Wow, I got a lot of reviews! Thank you so much, and please continue to review as I update! I'll update faster this way.

So I got a little bit of her past in, as well as clarification of her old relationship. (Though I think that much was pretty obvious from the start…)

I'm probably going to have the next chapter be the past, and maybe alternate in between the past and the present so it'll be more interesting. Is anyone particularly against that? Because if you are, please tell me and I'll see if I can change it around. I probably can…I haven't typed any of it yet. :P

Oh, I wanted to mention, that it was _purely coincidental_ that my OC's name is Spade. I read the last chapter and I was like _SERIOUSLY? Ace was captain of the Spade pirates?!_ Yeah, I was utterly shocked by the irony. Pretty interesting, though. I liked the last chapter a lot. Sorry for spoiling if you haven't read it…

So I'm alternating updating chapters between my D. Gray-man fanfiction and my One Piece one. If you're a fan of D. Gray-man or Rurouni Kenshin, please review my other ones too!! That'd make me oh so happy.

I think that's about it for now! Please review!!!!

Love, -jenni-


	4. Pirate Hater

**Chapter 4: Pirate-Hater**

"Hey, are you sure you're just going to let him leave like that?" Zoro asked, glancing over at Spade.

She was gazing out on the horizon, watching Ace's boat disappear with a forlorn expression on her face.

"I mean, Luffy said it was fine if you wanted to go with him."

"No," she said softly, "no, it's probably better this way."

Zoro found himself staring at her.

"Don't look so depressed if you really think it's for the better," he said. "You're making me uncomfortable."

She scoffed.

"Good thing you're so candid about everything," she said, turning around and leaning against the railing. She paused for a moment. "Did I look that depressed?"

"Yeah."

Spade sighed.

"I suppose it's a bit sad," she admitted. "Seeing him again made me have some memories…but whatever. What's done is done."

"…You make it sound like you rejected him and are now regretting it."

"I didn't _reject_ him. I just said I wouldn't leave with him," Spade corrected, taking off her black hat and ruffling her hair. A few strands stuck up messily. "I think I like you guys better."

"Ha," Zoro said sarcastically. "Right. Choose a crew you've known for a few weeks over a guy you've known for years and just happened to date. That's reasonable."

"Hey, you're making it sound like you wanted me to leave," said Spade sourly. "And we were getting along fine just a few hours ago…what are you, jealous or something?"

"Give me a break, you conceited woman."

She seemed to cheer up at the sound of his insult, a response made him conclude that she was really too strange.

"Good," she said, "because if you really were jealous, that'd be problematic. I'm older than you, after all."

He snorted. "By, like, a year."

"By two, actually. I'm turning twenty-one very soon."

"What? Doesn't that mean you're older than Ace too?"

"Yeah. By a little less than a year. But he's quite mature for his age; you're not really. So a year's a lot. Besides, I'm smarter."

"I'm taller."

"You're a _guy_. That's expected. And I'm more experienced."

"I'm stronger."

"Keep lying to yourself. I'm more mature."

"You're the one who started this childish argument in the first place."

"And you're not stopping it."

He made a face, causing her to let out a short laugh before stopping abruptly. She turned around and faced the ocean again. Something about their conversation must've upset her.

Zoro followed her gaze out over the rippling waters, letting the silence carry on as he reverted his eyes back to her profile. There was something dark sticking out from under her scandalous top that Sanji made her wear for the trek in the desert. Without thinking, Zoro reached over and touched her back.

Spade jerked around and punched him in the face immediately. The look on her face told Zoro that it had been an automatic reaction, not a calculated one. She stared at him, perplexed, then spoke.

"What the hell were you doing?"

"There was something sticking out from under your shirt," the first-mate replied, gingerly rubbing his cheek. "I just wanted to see what it was."

"It's a tattoo, idiot."

"Oh. Of what?"

She rolled her green eyes. "Ace of spades. I got it when Ace and I christened ourselves. It's a pretty interesting design. Want to see?"

"Are you going to punch me again?"

"No, but I am going to pull a Nami and charge you for it."

"No thanks, then."

"I was joking."

"Oh. Fine then."

He pulled up the back of her shirt, revealing a rather large design imprinted on her back. In the center was a pure black spade; inscribed in the spade was ASCE, with the S crossed out. Zoro remembered seeing the same letters on Ace's arm. Patterned around the spade were thin strands of black, branching out to her rather prominent shoulder blades, causing an interesting effect that made her shoulder blades look like wings. Around the wings were oddly curving lines.

"What are the lines around the wings?"

"Flames," she replied simply. "Yeah, he did a bad job with that, but I thought everything else seemed pretty nice."

Zoro pulled down her shirt, refraining from saying that her tan back was probably more than "pretty nice," nicer and more interesting than the tattoo actually. Spade, on the other hand, seemed absolutely unperturbed by the effect that showing so much skin had on Zoro, and simply continued to gaze out onto the ocean. Minutes passed by in silence as Zoro managed to calm himself down and start thinking about other things. His mind wandered over back to the tattoo itself, and his curiosity was piqued about its real history.

"Hey," he said suddenly, breaking the quietness. "I know that you told Luffy never to pry about your past. But the cat's out of the bag, and I just wanted some details. How'd you and Ace meet?"

"Jeez, trust you to ask the stupid questions."

"We already know the basics."

"Which doesn't mean you need to know the details."

Spade's eyes glowed orange as she looked at the shimmering waters that reflected the setting sun.

"But if you want to know…" she said slowly, "I suppose I could tell you a few parts."

* * * * * *

Skye Spade, eighteen years old and on the run from the Marines. She sighed as she sat in the rowdy pub, having just established her own bar. Shiny bottles of wine lined the shelves while the aged and more precious ones were stowed in the more obscure cabinets to avoid being taken by thieves. She was relatively bored. Men, for some reason, didn't like fancy drinks that included mixing concoctions together, something that she found very interesting. They simply ordered a tankard of beer and just sat around the room, bragging about their latest ventures or activities with various women. Vulgar, rude, and disgusting. All of them. She longed for someplace slightly more…sophisticated. But beggars couldn't be choosers, and if she was going to stay hidden from the Marines, the best idea was probably to own a little shop like the one she currently had, earn some money, and keep moving around for a good bit of time until the hysteria about her disappearance died off. Popping into a sleek party or gathering that probably included a good amount of Marines was most likely not the wisest idea.

Spade suddenly became aware of a group of men who were continuously staring at her from afar. She scowled, watching as one of the men gave a stack of bills into another. Betting. Probably on her. Well, as long as they kept their hands to themselves and kept their voices down, she couldn't say anything to kick them out. Nevertheless, her hand reached to the belted pouch at her waist and fingered a dagger lovingly. Just one quick thrust, and—

A teenager, roughly around her own age, sauntered up to her. Spade resisted rolling her eyes as he approached her, and instead stared seriously at the differently colored martini in her hand. The youth slid into a seat a few feet away from her, making it very obvious that he was trying to get her attention. She chanced a glance at him, analyzing his features. Not terrible looking, not necessarily drop-dead gorgeous, wild black hair covered with a tilted black cowboy hat. Freckly, tan, and most offensively, no shirt, thus flaunting a well-built chest. The entire appearance made it extremely obvious to her that the kid was cocky, brash, arrogant, and annoying. She blew out a breath, tossed her long hair over her shoulder, and, deciding that it was better to get it over with, finally addressed him.

"Anything I can get you?"

"Sure, just a beer."

Already used to the very boring orders, she mechanically reached into the refrigerator and set the tankard a bit forcefully in front of him, causing its bubbly contents to slosh onto the smooth table.

"I'm Ace," he said.

"Good to know," she said dryly.

He chuckled at her guarded attitude and leaned back in his seat, eyes peering over the edge of his drink as he scrutinized her face.

"You're not _that_ pretty," he said with a sigh.

"Thanks," she answered acidly.

"No, it's just that I've seen prettier."

"Is that so." Her tone made it clear that it wasn't a question.

"Yeah," he said thoughtfully, ignoring her scowl. "Yeah, the girl last night was really attractive…blondie, sorta short…great in bed, though. Maybe you know her?"

So he was the kind of guy who had one night stands with practically every girl in town. A playboy, arrogant, flirtatious, annoying.

"I doubt that." It was very hard to keep the obvious dislike out of her voice. "I'm a new face around here."

"Really?" Ace said in an interested tone. "Well, that's nice. What's your name?"

"Spade."

"…Is that your first or last name?"

"Last."

"Well, what's your first?"

"Does it matter?" she said snappishly.

Ace made a disapproving clucking noise, the kind that old women made when they commented on how the younger generations were all going downhill.

"Jeez, you're not very social."

She was glad he had made that observation. Good, now he could just give up, tell his friends that she was a complete asshole, and get the hell on with his life. She, on the other hand, would resume bartending and at two o'clock, wrap it up, kick everyone out, and go to sleep. Wonderful plan.

Unfortunately, things did not go the way she wanted. Ace did not leave.

"You want to know what's funny?" he said, grinning.

"No," Spade replied bluntly, turning around and feeling the sudden desire to smash a bottle of wine over the guy's head. She really needed to learn how to control these murderous impulses…

"I'm the captain of a group of pirates," said Ace, completely ignoring Spade's candor. "And we're the Spade Pirates. It's sort of a pun on my name. Ace of Spades. Funny, isn't it?"

"Very," she said acidly. "I hate pirates."

"We're not all that bad," Spade smiled. "Some of us are actually decent…we're just misunderstood."

"Oh. Misunderstood. Is that so." Again, her voice did not encourage the conversation. Again, Ace pressed on relentlessly.

"Say," he said, eying her bare arms (she was dressed lightly today, in a short-cut tee, though she started wishing that she hadn't as Ace's gaze lingered on her), "you look pretty…fit. Do you work out?"

"Occasionally."

"You know, this conversation isn't gonna go anywhere if you keep giving me one word answers."

"I'm glad you noticed, because I precisely don't _want_ this conversation to go anywhere."

"Jeez, you're harsh…but at least that was more than a word!" Ace said brightly.

Spade let out an audible groan.

"Look here, _kiddo_, will you just stop the conversation and go back to your little pirate friends and just tell them that I'm a complete asshole and you've decided that you don't particularly care about the bet they've made you to see if you can get me to bed down with you, because there's absolutely no chance that that's going to happen?" she said in one big breath. "I don't really care if you insult me; use whatever methods you deem necessary, but just lay off, kid."

"_Kid_?" he said incredulously. "Woman, you don't look any older than me!"

"You don't look old enough to drink."

"_You_ don't look old enough to be serving the drinks!"

Spade tapped her fingers lightly on the surface of the bar, counting silently in order to refrain from really dumping the contents of her martini over the insolent youth's head.

"How old are you?" she asked in a steely tone.

"I'm seventeen, but I'm a hell lot more mature than—"

"You're right, I'm young. I'm eighteen," she said swiftly and coolly, watching out of the corner of her eye as Ace's friends walked over. "But no offense, you seem like the kind of guy who has just been released from the confines of your guardians' home in order to meander across the oceans and raise up a bit of hell. You're not gonna get anywhere. And when we have such horribly different backgrounds, you're sure as hell not going to get me to bed down with you."

"Cap'n," one of the men said, "somethin' wrong?"

"Nah," Ace said coldly, his gaze never leaving Spade's face. "It's just that this girl here is—"

"—a complete moron, an asshole, and so not worth my time so I think I'm just going to have you pay your bet to me 'cause I'm the captain and I think we're just going to leave after paying the bill," Spade finished with poisonous sweetness, fishing the olive out of the bottom of her glass. She gave them a smile. "Now go away."

"I actually agree," Ace said frostily.

"Thank you."

"But what I meant to add was that your attitude is pretty shitty," he continued. "I mean, come on, I'm not doing any harm, right? And here you are, being all high and mighty thinking that you're everything. You're judgmental, you think that you're some crazy delinquent who's experienced absolutely _so_ much in her life that everyone else is a novice. For your information, we're already a pretty big deal here in the Grand Line, so why don't you stop it with your craziness and—"

Spade had not been listening to his rant for a while, her green eyes focused instead on a man dressed in a white suit behind Ace's crew. She had not noticed him come in, and only when she sensed his burning eyes on her did she finally realize that he was there. The white uniform, long trench coat with the characters of "justice" ironically imprinted on the back…she knew it well enough.

He was watching her very subtly and had not noticed that she already knew he was there.

"Hey, are you listening to me at all?" Ace demanded.

Spade emptied the contents of her glass onto Ace's face. In lighter circumstances, when her heart wasn't pumping so loudly that she could hear it in her ears, she would've laughed bitterly at Ace's look of incredulity and anger, but she did not. Instead, she threw the glass in between Ace and one of his crewmember's faces, directly at the Marine. It shattered as it hit his prominently sticking-out chin; the Marine looked at her immediately, but Spade was much quicker than he was; she jumped over the bar table and sent her bare foot crashing into his face. Surprisingly enough, no one in the pub turned to watch the bartender as she twisted the grown man's arms behind his back and pressed his head firmly to the ground. Glad for the rowdiness for once, Spade dragged the man, unseen except perhaps by the Spade pirates, to the shed behind the pub and locked the door behind her. She snatched a pair of handcuffs from the wall and locked him expertly, still pressing his head to the ground.

"Now," she said quickly and quietly, "I want you to tell me exactly how many of you guys are here in this city, how you found me, who your leader is, and what the current status is concerning my persecution."

"I won't give up that easily," he grunted.

She kneed him in the back hard, causing him to groan in pain.

"If you think that I'm some useless girl who is incapable of torture, you're quite wrong," she said, her eyes glinting strangely. "I've been trained quite well. But let me tell you what I've deduced. Because you're here _alone_, I'm assuming that your team consists only of a few men, numbering at ten the most, or else _someone_ would've come with you. And because you're sitting at a bar, relaxing, I'd say that you're not an official hit squad out to find me. But because someone as minor as you could recognize me, I'd say that my face has been released to all levels of the Marines because you all are very anxious to find me."

She blew out a breath as the man said nothing.

"Well, thanks for your help," she said sourly, "but I think this is enough for me to go by."

Spade punched him in the head with a good bit of force, causing the Marine's eyes to roll into the back of his head and finally droop as he fell unconscious. With some effort, the bartender hauled him out onto a boat and finally levitated it with her Kaze Kaze no Mi abilities all the way to the port. A final push, and the handcuffed Marine sailed away and out of sight.

Spade swiftly turned around and headed back to the bar. Thankfully enough, it was mostly empty by now, excluding the Spade pirates, who had been awaiting her return.

"Get the hell out," she snarled, dashing behind the counter and stowing away the stray bottles.

"What happened?" Ace asked in a drawl.

"I'll tell you what _will_ happen if you guys aren't gone by the moment I turn around," she snapped. "I'll bash your heads in so well that your own mother won't recognize you, and—"

"My old mom's dead," Ace said shortly.

"Oh, what a coincidence," Spade said haughtily, "mine is too. Now go away."

"Let's go, men," said Ace, much to Spade's relief.

It took them an unnecessary amount of time to file out of the door, but the moment they were gone, Spade locked the front door, flipped over the sign so that it said "CLOSED," and disappeared into the wind. It was much faster and much easier to travel this way, invisible to many (except for those who actually looked for Devil's Fruit users) and faster than all. She materialized in front of her doorstep and hastily entered, not flipping on any lights until she got into her own bedroom, which had no windows.

Spade collapsed with a sigh onto her bed, relieved that the scenario had not been any worse. She really needed to start being more cautious; she still wasn't quite used to being on the run, hiding from every white jacket in fear that its wearer was a Marine.

There was a creaking sound, and Spade immediately bolted upright, daggers in hand, watching warily as the doorknob to her room turned.

The moment the intruder entered the room, Spade sent the knives flying, pinning him down by his shirt's shoulders. Or they would have, if he had been wearing a shirt at all.

"Hi," Ace said warily. "Mind if I come in?"

Her murderous impulse was at its highest peak now…she hated pirates.

**Free Talk**

Hello, all! Thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm averaging about eight reviews per chapter, which is GREAT, and I hope you guys continue to keep that up!!

So my depiction of Ace in the past is a bit different from what I think most people would imagine. However, please remember that he's seventeen, obnoxious and strong, so I thought the idea of a playboy/flirt was not too far off. I hope you don't mind!

So I incorporated a bit about the Spades Pirates; it was really too ironic of a coincidence for me _not_ to include it, but I don't think it'll be that big of a deal.

So the two are off to a rocky start (Spade is really too hot-tempered for her own good, but I haven't really created such a feisty character before, and it's pretty interesting!) Please review and give me your input, I'd love to hear what you think!

Until next time,

Love, -jenni-


	5. Allies

**Chapter 5: Allies**

"Tell me right now why the hell you're in my room, and how the hell you followed me here."

Ace gave an uneasy shrug of his shoulders. "I'm a Devil's Fruit user too…so it wasn't terribly hard to watch you disappear into wind and then follow you. Since I assumed you were wind, I just followed the breezes until I arrived here…mind putting down the weapons, dear?"

She had been waving her daggers in front of him rather threateningly.

"Does your crew know I'm here?" Spade asked coldly, not lowering the weapons.

"…Yeah?"

She sent the daggers flying right by his ear, and before he could react, slammed her hand against his face, pressing him against the wall.

"If you had the slightest bit of common sense, you would've left me alone after you saw me beat the crap out of that Marine," she hissed in his ear. "You obviously know I'm on the run, and I need to keep a low profile right now. Having a _pirate_ at my house isn't going to help my situation."

He suddenly slid his hand under her shirt and up her back. Spade drew back, furious, and aimed a punch at the center of his face. It simply disappeared, and she leapt back protectively as the grinning teenager's face materialized again.

"Mera Mera no Mi," he explained. "We're both Logia types."

"What do you want?" she snarled.

"I want you to join my crew."

She stared at him incredulously. "You're _joking_."

"Afraid not. You're strong and rather interesting. I don't particularly like your personality, but I think we would make a good pair. See, I'm looking for a partner to complement my abilities so we could make our way across the Grand Line easier. In addition to that, your Kaze Kaze no Mi abilities can help me out. A lot. So what about it?"

"Go find someone else," she snapped.

"C'mon, that's a bit harsh…" He was eying her bare feet strangely. "Y'know, those are some pretty intense tattoos…"

She glanced down to what he was talking about: snaking around both her ankles was the same pattern of branch-like lines that stretched for a good two inches.

"There a meaning behind them?" Ace asked, causing her to scowl.

Before she had time to say anything, there was a loud _bang_ outside and an explosion that crashed through her house, throwing her and Ace against the wall. Spade could hear someone yelling through the now-open door and broken windows from the living room.

"Come out, Skye Spade!" a rough voice ordered. "We know you're there!"

Spade turned to Ace furiously.

"_You tipped them off?!!_"

"No, I swear I didn't," he said hastily. "Only my crew knows where I am, and none of them would—"

"Well someone obviously _told them_," she whispered angrily. "I'm going to _kill_ you once we—"

There was another bang: a cannonball. The force of the impact sent Spade flying forward against Ace. She flushed crimson as his muscular arms cradled her profile protectively. He didn't seem to notice.

"Excuse me," she said primly, trying to scoot away.

Ace was not paying attention to her, his eyes glued outside as he seemed to do some quick thinking. His hold on her waist grew tighter.

"Hang on," he said, all playfulness and naïveté gone from his voice. "Hold on to me; we can get out of here."

"Of course we can, and I can get out myself," she hissed, struggling to break free from his grip. "All I have to do is _disappear_."

"They've got Karouseki nets and stuff all around," he said. "Just trust me, all right?"

"Why would I?! Your little friend was probably the one who tipped them off—"

"I know that," he said evenly, "which means I either have a traitor or an idiot on my crew, and I want to know which. But for now, I'd like to repay for all this mess and get you out of here first."

He looked at her seriously, and for once, Spade found herself lost for words. The transformation from the arrogant playboy at the bar to the now…mature captain in front of her was unsettling. She gave a curt nod, and Ace stood up, bringing his arms around her back.

"Hang on tight."

He shot a flame through the back wall and jumped through the smoldering hole it created, leaping quickly onto the crumbling roof and stealthily moving behind the rows of houses, unseen by the Marines. Spade could tell from his stride that the youth was confident in his abilities; he leapt over the wired gates of the division effortlessly, and within moments, they arrived at the port.

"Captain," a bearded, big man greeted as they gathered on the deck of Ace's ship.

"Who's not here?" said Ace coldly.

"…Theo."

"When'd he leave?"

"…Look, cap'n, I'm sure he didn't mean it—"

"_I_ said specifically to stay on the damn ship until I came back—how the hell did he get away from all of you?!"

"…We all thought that it wasn't a good idea for you to ask the girl t'come," the man said gruffly.

"Whether or not it was a good idea could've been discussed _after_ I returned. The idiot could've caused some serious damage!"

"Looks like he didn't," the man said darkly, eying Spade with suspicion.

"Marcus…" Ace said with the barest trace of a growl.

"Looks like your little friend is back," said Spade coolly as a lanky man hurried up the steps to the ship.

"Theo—" Ace began heatedly.

Unseen bullets fired in front of the skinny man, who stopped in his tracks and looked up at the crew, bewildered.

"Skye, I can take care of this—" said Ace.

"How much are the Marines paying you?" Spade said to Theo, ignoring Ace entirely.

"W-what?"

"A hundred, two hundred million?" Spade guessed, walking closer to the board that connected the port to the deck. "Either way, you're sure as hell getting ripped off. I'm worth way more than that."

"Skye, what the hell are you talking about?" Ace demanded.

Spade raised her arms out in front of her, her hands outstretched.

"Tatsumaki."

Two gigantic cyclones erupted from the tips of her slender fingers, speeding immediately towards the coast, destroying everything in their paths. A crowd of white-coated Marines suddenly emerged from the shadows of the anchored ships, shouting and trying to get out of the way of her cyclones. A pillar of smoke abruptly appeared, managing to dissipate them, but not before a good half of the port was destroyed. Spade smirked as she saw her opponent once the smoke cleared away.

"Nice to see you, Smoker," she called.

The heavily-built Marine gave a wry grin as he lit his cigar.

"Skye Spade, you are under arrest by order of the Marines and the World Government, along with your little pirate friends. Good grief, girl, I thought you had a little more class than to actually steep so low and accept help from pirates. Thought you hated them."

"I do," she said dryly, "especially seeing how one of them betrayed his entire crew so easily. How much did you offer him?"

"Fifty mil."

"You're _joking_, I'm worth _way_ more than that!"

"Yeah, you are, but I wanted to get it for cheap, and he didn't make any higher demands. Now, where was I…oh, right, you are to be brought and detained at Impel Down on the charges for—"

Spade sent another blast of wind towards the port, splitting off the board connecting the Spade Pirates' ship to the dock, and with a booming gust, the ship went sailing off into the calm ocean. A silent two minutes passed as Spade did nothing but ensure that the city was out of sight, and that no Marines were coming after them.

"But…" Marcus said almost timidly, "what about Theo?"

"Forget him," Ace said snappishly. "Lower all sails, men, we're setting out again." He turned to Spade. "I assume this means you'll be joining us, Skye?"

"It's Spade," she corrected. "But yes, for the time being, it looks like I'll be with you all. Please take care of me."

"So what're you on the run for?"

She gave him an enigmatic smile. "Murder."

He stared at her, as if debating whether or not she was telling the truth.

"Now," she said cheerfully, pleased with his silence, "since it looks like I'm the only female on the ship, I'd like my own barrack, and please refrain from peeping on me when I'm in the shower or I'll blow you overboard, and—"

He interrupted her, a faint smile playing up to his lips. "Before laying demands, how about you summon up a couple more winds and help us out of here?"

The sails caught a strong breeze, and the ship glided almost effortlessly over the water.

"That's nice," Ace admitted. "Be sure to keep doing that."

"Aye, aye, captain," Spade said lazily.

She leaned against the rails of the ship and watched her new life unfold before her. She hated pirates…but maybe she hated them a little less now.

* * * * * *

The two of them had been sitting against the wooden boards of the Going Merry for over an hour. The sun had set a long time ago, and most of the crew were inside, laughing hysterically probably over some antic that Luffy was performing. It was a clear night; stars were easily visible in the dark sky.

"So I'm guessing after that one encounter, you guys became best friends," Zoro said sarcastically.

"Hell, no. I hated that guy for ages."

"What, why?"

Spade stared at him as if he were an idiot.

"I guess you don't really understand how much of a playboy he was," she said slowly. "It's really hard to believe, actually. You know what, let's just leave it at that."

"And you managed to work with him?"

"He was good in battle," she remarked. "Very dependable, and very smart. So he was worth fighting alongside with, but outside of the battlefield, he was detestable."

"…You know, I didn't really get that sort of feeling from him when he was here earlier."

"Yeah, I didn't either," Spade said admittedly. "He said he changed…well, I suppose he did get better when we started dating…"

She stood up and stretched out her limbs, her cowboy hat dangling against her back.

"I suppose we should get back inside," she said.

"Yeah," Zoro agreed, standing up with her. "Say…why _were_ you on the run?"

Spade wagged a finger at him.

"You get what I give," she warned. "No more prying."

"Sure, sure," he said with a roll of his eyes. "But seriously, Spade, all this secrecy isn't going to let me trust you."

"But you already do," she smirked.

"What?"

"Throughout that entire conversation, your guard was completely lowered. I could've taken your head at any moment."

Zoro let out a snarl and strode past her, slamming the door shut after him. Spade was left alone on the empty deck, smiling faintly at the smooth door. She must've struck a nerve.

******************

"So, Robin, tell me exactly what you're doing here."

The group had just saved Alabasta from the hands of Crocodile, and after a tearful goodbye with Vivi, the Strawhats had just set sail and discovered a secret stowaway who had been trying to kill them only hours earlier.

Robin gave Spade a skeptical look.

"I'm doing the same thing as you," she murmured as she drank her coffee. "Hiding out by joining another group."

The two women were watching the rest of the idiot crew play with the hands that Robin had conjured out of the middle of nowhere. Spade sensed Zoro watching them warily from a distance but ignored the first-mate. Ever since their superficial "bonding time" after Ace left, they had not spoken save for the terse words for orders.

"To think that'd we actually be allies…" Spade said dryly. "That's surprising."

"I'm sure we'd work very well together," Robin said with a smile. "After all, we're familiar with each other's abilities already."

"I suppose so…"

"Say, can you still do that odd ability with your legs? That super strength, super speed or whatever…"

"Yeah," said Spade curtly.

"Oh," Robin said, understanding her bluntness, "they don't know."

"They don't know quite a lot," said Spade lightly, swirling a cherry around in her martini glass. "So don't spill the beans, all right?"

"What exactly don't they know?"

"Use that famous brain of yours, Nico Robin."

"Well, in return for my silence, I'd like a few questions answered."

"Like what?"

Robin gave a mysterious smile.

"Like exactly what happened that made you leave the Marines."

"You should know that."

"Oh, but I'd like to hear from you."

Spade stood up and made her way over to Nami.

"You just want me to say that the reason I left was because I found out the truth about Ohara."

"And was it?"

"…No."

* * * * * *

Spade ran swiftly through the empty halls of Marine Headquarters at Mariejois, her breathing ragged and labored. Her white Marine coat was slung over her shoulder, her braided long hair beating against her back with every step.

She finally arrived at her wanted destination: Aokiji's room. She burst in without knocking.

The Admiral was sitting at his desk, reading a book. He did not look remotely surprised at her entrance.

"Skye," he greeted without any emotion.

"Admiral Aokiji," Spade said respectfully.

"Why are you here?"

"I wanted to ask you a question."

"Fire away."

"Were you at the Buster Call of Ohara sixteen years ago?"

Aokiji set down his book, startled.

"What in the world brought this question out?"

"Please answer it."

"…Is this why you let Nico Robin go last year?"

"Sensei…" There was a pleading note in her voice. "Is what I found out true?"

"…You are not permitted to speak about this."

"Sir, I want to—"

"Drop it," Aokiji said sharply. "That's none of your business, Vice Admiral Spade."

Spade let out an angry hiss at the sound of her professional title.

"This is rather surprising and at the same time disappointing," he continued, ignoring her scowl. "Judging from your appearance, you've probably been locked up in the library for the last two days and researching all this feverishly. Though I must ask, why now?"

"Just because," she answered shortly.

"It's very disappointing to hear that some tip-off from Nico Robin made you let her get away," Aokiji said disparagingly. "She's a world-class criminal, and such a simply trick distracted you. I expected better from you, as you're my personal student."

"Sir," she said almost scathingly, "didn't you say that the Marines exist to enact justice and peace on the world? Obviously, the Buster Call was—"

"The Marines exist to establish order, justice, and peace," Aokiji said, nodding, "but we are very capable of making mistakes."

"Mistakes?! A mistake is a minor error in judgment or calculation. Blowing up an entire island is not a mistake; it's a crime!"

"Skye Spade!" Aokiji said angrily, standing up and slamming his hands on the table. "This is not for you to judge! It's in the past; you will not speak of it!"

The conversation was over; Spade had lost. She gave an ugly frown and turned around to leave.

"Skye, don't tell anyone about what you found out," Aokiji said wearily. "You'll get in trouble…heaven knows I've got enough on my hands."

"Yes, sir," she said coolly, shutting the door firmly behind her.

She headed straight for the library again.

* * * * * *

"Ugh, those two! It's impossible that they can refrain from getting in trouble! Hey!" Nami yelled, chasing after the captain and first-mate. "Hey, I'm coming with you!"

Robin caught Spade's eye and motioned for her to follow. The two of them slipped out, unnoticed by Sanji, Usopp, and Chopper.

"What are you sneaking away for?" Spade asked.

"I need to get clothes," Robin answered easily. "I wanted you to come and help me pick some out. And then let's go look around for some info on Sky Island."

"Sure, sure," Spade said, fitting her beret hat over her short hair and making sure it wouldn't fall off. "Let's make this quick…"

The two females entered a small store sponsoring women's casual attire. Robin looked around as Spade picked out a blouse and another pair of shorts.

Robin approached her, her arms laden with clothes.

"You'll pay, of course?" she smiled. "I'm new, after all, and I don't have anything on me."

Spade grumbled and handed over the bills to the eager saleslady; she took the change and with their packages, the two of them entered the bustling streets.

"So I thought we could go into a bar or something and find some information."

"Find some info, hm? Can we use force?"

Robin smiled. "Of course."

They selected the nearest pub and entered. A few heads turned to look at the two women, resulting in a couple of whistles and jeers.

"Disgusting," Spade said under her breath.

"Well, now that we have their attention…" she raised her voice, "does anyone here know anything about Sky Island?"

The entire pub went silent, then suddenly burst out in laughter.

"Seriously, woman?" a shaggy man close to them guffawed. "I see, you're a dreamer, aren't you? Aha, Sky Island's nuthin' but a dream! Ha, I ain't seen nuthin' so amusin' in a long time!"

"I think asking was a bit out of the question," commented Spade, reaching into her pocket and withdrawing a set of spare daggers. "Shall we coerce them?"

"By all means."

Duplicates of Robin's hands emerged from the tables, pinning the men down as Spade flung her daggers at the ones Robin missed.

"You know, you're fighting very inefficiently," Robin remarked. "Your Kaze Kaze abilities would make your life a lot easier."

"Hm. You're saying I should take the handcuff off?"

Robin shrugged. "The captain's not weak. You'll be fine." She turned back to the men in the pub, who were watching the two women with wide eyes. "So, does anyone know anything about Sky Island now?"

"T-there's a crazy man," the shaggy man stammered. "He lives on island near here…goes by Monbran Cricket. H-he might know sumthin'."

"Thank you very much," Robin said politely, causing one of her duplicate hands to reach into the man's pocket and withdraw a sheaf of paper. She took it in the hands connected to her body and glanced at it before passing it to Spade. It was a map of the island: Jaya.

"We'll be taking our leave now," Spade announced, tucking the map in her pocket and heading for the door.

"Thank you, gentlemen," Robin said with a tint of sarcasm before following her out into the open.

"That was productive," Spade said.

"Very much so."

Spade found herself studying the Karouseki handcuff on her wrist as the women made their way back to the ship. Robin was right, Luffy _was_ strong. But Ace's warning kept lingering in her ear, and more than anything, she did not want to prove him right…she suddenly entered a shaded area.

"I don' believe it!" a deep, accented voice said above them.

She looked up for the cause of the shadow, eyes widening at the sight of another familiar face.

"Vice commanduh Spade!" he grinned. "Been a while!"

Robin looked at Spade quizzically.

"Don't let your guard down, Robin," Spade said quietly, reaching into her pouch and withdrawing the silver key to her cuff. She clinked the handcuff open and stowed it away, looking back up.

"Hi, Teach," she smiled.

Ace should've been the one to stick with _her_. She'd unknowingly found Blackbeard first.

* * *

**Free Talk**:

Which brings us to the end of another chapter. Another little bit of Spade's past, though it might have been predictable. Oh well, I'll expand more on the Marines and her time with them later. If anyone's confused, please tell me!

Oh, and the tattoos around Spade's ankles are also something to add to her already enigmatic persona. :) And hopefully Spade and Zoro will reconcile! Though I'm probably going to do more -past- flashbacks in the next chapter, like when the Spade Pirates get assimilated into Whitebeard's crew and stuff.

And as always, PLEASE REVIEW! :)

Love, -jenni-


	6. Blackbeard and Whitebeard

**Chapter 6: Blackbeard and Whitebeard**

"Vice Commanduh, what are ya doin' here?" Teach grinned.

"I'm not Vice Commander anymore, Teach," said Spade. "So don't call me that."

"Righty, forgot 'bout dat…hard ta forget the days where you an' Commanduh Ace would fight side by side," he chuckled. "So, den, Spade! What are ya doin' here?"

"I'm with a couple of friends…" she answered.

"Ya met Commanduh Ace since ya left?"

"Once," admitted Spade. "He's looking for you, Blackbeard."

"Aw, I be honored!" Teach guffawed.

"He said you killed someone, Teach."

Blackbeard looked down at her with a strange look on his face.

"I had ta, Spade."

"I'm not asking for your justification," Spade said shortly. "It's none of my business."

"Right-o…"

Curiosity got the better of her.

"Who did you kill, Teach?"

"Thatch."

"_Thatch?!_" she exclaimed. "How?!"

"Jus' because I don't have a bounty doesn' mean I couldn't fight, Spade," Teach said gravely. "When time came to, I jus' did it."

But Thatch was fourth division's commander; it made no sense how Blackbeard could possibly kill him…but she had heard that Blackbeard had determinedly refused to gain a bounty or any sort of fame…there had perhaps been some latent power in Blackbeard that she had missed.

"Right, well, we'll be leaving now," Spade said, growing uncomfortable as she sensed other fighters gathering around them. Judging from the way Robin's eyes were swiveling around, Spade deduced that she was wary of their surroundings as well.

"Hey, Spade, wanna join my crew?" He surveyed Robin favorably. "You, too, lady. Looks like yer pretty strong."

Robin simply frowned as Spade replied for the both of them.

"And why in the world would we?"

"Cause I'm gonna find the One Piece! You're strong, Spade, you can help us out!"

"No thanks. I happened to like Thatch."

"Aw, don' be like dat…"

"Care to move out of the way, Teach?"

Blackbeard sighed and moved his big body to the side of the street, letting the two of them pass. Robin stiffened suddenly.

"Ten o'clock," she said sharply.

Bullets whizzed through the air towards Spade, who did not bother to dodge and instead let them pass through her. Robin immediately crossed her arms in the signature "X" form, creating the duplicates of her arms as she tried to catch the attacker.

"Damn," she cursed after a moment. "I missed."

"It's okay," Spade said almost lazily, closing her eyes. "I've found him."

She disappeared into thin air and materialized effortlessly behind their mysterious attacker, a man with a strange hat and a long barrel gun. His back was facing her as he watched Robin curiously, a scope poised over his right eye as he studied his target.

"Confused, much?" breathed Spade by his ear.

The man reacted immediately, but Spade, in her ephemeral form, was much faster. Within milliseconds, she created a gargantuan wind-made blade from her arm and brought it crashing down. She underestimated his speed and missed slightly, catching only his shoulder with the tip of the blade; the rest of it slammed into the house, causing it to crumble. The two of them leaped off agilely to avoid a fall, but the moment they landed, Spade had the crescent of the blade at his neck.

"What'd you shoot at them for, Van Auger?!" scolded Blackbeard.

"This your guy?" Spade said coolly.

"Sorry, sorry," Teach said apologetically. "Let 'im go, Spade."

She let out an angry hiss and obliged, causing her blade to disappear and materializing her body fully.

"What the hell are you attacking us for?" she said snappishly at Van Auger.

"You were being disrespectful to our captain…" the man replied coolly.

Spade snorted. "Captain, now, aren't you, Teach?"

"Yeah, got mah own crew an' everythin'."

"That so," Spade said without interest, beckoning to Robin to leave.

"I like your Kaze Kaze abilities," Blackbeard called after them as they turned away. "An' lady, it looks like ya got da Hana Hana no Mi; dey'd be great additions ta my crew! C'mon, join us!"

"No thanks," Robin replied. "We've joined a crew already."

"What, with a bunch o' no-namers? Who?"

"Doesn't matter," answered Spade coldly. She walked a few feet and stopped a moment, finally turning around. "By the way, Blackbeard…"

"Yeah?" he said, looking hopeful.

"Just a small warning. What goes on between you and Ace is none of my business, and I'm not going to be helping him find you, but I swear…" Her green eyes glittered mercilessly as she flicked a wind-bullet at Van Auger, catching him by the shoulder and causing him to curse. "If you somehow manage to kill Ace or hand him over to the authorities, I'll be back to kill you and your little friends."

With a smirk at the bleeding Van Auger, Spade turned around and followed Robin back to the Going Merry.

******************

"Ya all right, Van Auger?" Teach inquired.

"I'm fine," the sniper said through gritted teeth as he wrapped a bandage around his shoulder. "Damn woman…"

"Yeah, who told ya to go pissin' her off like dat?" the captain said with a bit of anger. "Ruined our chances…"

"Captain, not bein' rude, but I don't think you had a chance with her in the first place."

Teach spat on the ground in return.

"Spade's awful strong," he said pensively. "Wish she coulda joined us…and with her friend, too. Be nice to have a couple o' women with us."

"Captain…" the sniper was skeptical.

"Ya don' understand, Van Auger. Back in de days at Whitebeard's, she and Firefist Ace were always a pair…great fighter, Skye Spade."

"How was she compared to Firefist?"

Teach thought about it for a moment.

"I'd have to say Commanduh Ace was stronger," he said finally. "Spade was sometimes too rash…an' he beat her in a couple o' matches…but she was strong enough ta be vice commanduh," he added with a shrug.

"You think you could beat her?" Van Auger asked.

"…I think so. With dis new ability o' mine, an' if she's de same as de last time I saw her, I think she'd be a pushover."

******************

"Where have you been?!" Nami shrieked at the two women as they boarded.

"Shopping," Robin answered, unfazed by the navigator's anger, lifting up her bags as proof. "And we got some information about Sky Island."

"Don't even _say_ the name of that cursed place; it's all your fault, Robin, your ridiculous talk about Sky Island!"

"What'd you find out?" Luffy asked, walking up to them.

"Captain, what in the world happened to your face?" Spade questioned, staring at the blood covering Luffy's face. "And you too, first-mate?!"

"They got in a fight and refused to fight back!" Nami sniffed angrily. "Even though I told them it was okay to!"

"Who the hell did you let beat you up that badly?!"

"Some guys at a bar," Zoro replied indifferently.

"For goodness's sake, _why_?! You guys could've easily beaten the crap out of some random guys at the bar! Were they pirates?"

"I think so," Luffy said, wincing slightly as Chopper dabbed his cheek with hydrogen peroxide.

"What was his bounty?!"

"I dunno," said Luffy with a shrug of his shoulders. "I think his first mate's was 38 million or something…"

"I think the captain was 55 million; I heard someone in the bar say so," Zoro said.

Spade sat down furiously in front of him and Luffy as they were getting treated.

"Luffy, I know your bounty is 30 million, but you just beat a Shichibukai; you've _got_ to be stronger than them! Why the hell didn't you fight back?!"

"Because they were insulting dreams," the captain said simply. "There's no point in fighting with them when they're being stupid."

"Give me the name of the bar; I'm going straight back and beating the crap out of them."

"Damn, Spade, why are you so anxious to fight?"

"We got in a bit of a skirmish ourselves…" Robin began, her voice trailing off as she noted Spade's glare.

"Skirmish?" the first-mate said inquiringly. "With who?"

"A fat man who wouldn't get out of the way. Now, which bar, Luffy?"

"C'mon, Spade, it's not a big deal."

"Drop it," Zoro said tiredly as Spade opened her mouth to retort. "What did you guys find out?"

"We got a map of this island; it's called Jaya," Spade said with a scowl, withdrawing the map from her pocket and handing it to Zoro.

"See the other side?" said Robin, leaning forward and trailing her finger along the map. "It matches with the map that Luffy retrieved from that sunken ship, right? And there's an interesting man by the name of Monbran Cricket who leaves not far from here…we should be able to talk about similar interests."

"Fine," Nami said grudgingly. "We'll give this a shot, but if this is some stupid crap that no one cares about, Robin, I'm blaming it on you."

"Sure, sure."

Robin gave a small chuckle as she sat down by Spade.

"You look angry."

"If that had been me…" the bartender growled, "I would've bashed their heads in…"

"That's not very nice. Your temper is probably your weakness."

"They're probably the believers of the New Age or whatever," Spade sighed, ignoring Robin's remark and waving her hands, causing three bottles of wine, a shaker, and two glasses to levitate towards her. "You want a glass?"

"Sure," answered Robin. "Expand on that New Age theory…I don't think I'm quite familiar with it."

Spade was silent for a moment as she measured and poured the three liquids into the shaker before pouring the mixture into the glasses. She handed one to Robin and began to speak.

"Some of the younger pirates like to think that the dreams of the old are dead, like One Piece, Sky Island, et cetera…they believe that they don't exist, and instead, the New Age should usher in a group of obnoxious pirates who like to wreak havoc as they please. It's a stupid idea; most of these New Age guys are terribly weak. I mean, how could you believe that what the Yonkou are after don't exist? Their judgments must be worse than Whitebeard's, or Shanks's…"

"Speaking of Whitebeard…" Robin said, lowering her voice, "the one from earlier, he was part of Whitebeard's crew."

"Yeah," Spade replied, keeping her voice soft as well. "Never looked for fame or a bounty though, so I just assumed he was a weakling. Never occurred to me that he could kill Thatch…"

"Thatch?"

"Fourth squad's commander," said Spade, her eyebrows furrowed in frustration. "Strong guy, good guy, too. It makes me uneasy to think that I missed someone that big…"

"And it makes you worried for Hiken no Ace?" guessed Robin.

Spade scowled. "No. He can take care of himself."

"Right," Robin scoffed, standing up and finishing her drink. "Well, I'm going to go and help these guys out, see what we can do about Sky Island. You should keep your handcuff off, you know. I don't think this next arc will be all that easy."

She left, striding towards Nami. Zoro handed her the steering wheel, seeing as the path to Monbran's place was not too difficult, and walked over to Spade. She resisted a groan; the look on Zoro's face was not inviting.

"Who'd you get in a fight with?" he said the moment he arrived at her side, sitting on Robin's chair.

"None of your business," Spade snapped.

"Tsk, moody today, aren't you?"

"What do you want?"

"Wanted to hear a bit more about your past."

"The last time you listened to me, you got all huffy at the end and didn't talk to me for, oh, a couple of weeks?"

"It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't…"

"Been so observational," Spade finished dryly. "My life's not that interesting, Roronoa Zoro. And I don't really want to talk about it right now."

"I want to know what Whitebeard's like," Zoro said firmly. "He's the one closest to obtaining One Piece, isn't he? We need to know what we're up against."

Spade scoffed. "You're far from his league…if you couldn't beat Hawkeye, you definitely can't beat Whitebeard."

Zoro stiffened. "You heard about Hawkeye?"

"Brave and valiant, your actions were, I must say," she murmured, her green eyes scanning the sea as she leaned back in her chair. "Though a tad stupid. You hadn't even gotten into the Grand Line; you honestly thought you could challenge him? He's a Shichibukai, first-mate. Way out of your league."

"Well you've found out a bit of my past; let's exchange."

She gave an obliging sigh and refilled her glass, handing the rest of the bottle to Zoro.

"Whitebeard, eh…so that'd be when the Spade Pirates disappeared…"

Her eyes seemed to grow distant as she thought deeply, pulling the memories forward. The words tumbled out of her mouth effortlessly, for, surprisingly enough, every moment with Ace was as vivid and imaginable as if she had experienced them the day before.

* * * * * *

"Give it a rest, Ace," Spade said sharply. "You're being obstinate."

"Shut it, Skye," Ace said, panting heavily, his face and chest splattered with blood. "This is my fight."

"Yeah, and I'm not interfering, like you told me to," she said coldly. "But this is ridiculous. Your fight's been dragging on for five days; both of you could die at any minute. Just call it a draw and stop."

Murmurs of agreement came from the rest of the crew; her opinion had grown rather influential since she became first-mate.

"I'll let you leave if you stop trying to fight Whitebeard," Jimbei said, his breathing labored. "I'm not part of the Whitebeard pirates, but I owe that man a favor, and I will stop you from trying to do him harm!"

"Get out of the way, fish-man!" Ace said angrily. "I'm going to fight this guy, no matter what!"

"Honestly, Ace, what is up with you and fighting Whitebeard?!" Spade said, her temper getting the better of her. "You can't possibly beat him and all his crew—"

"Aren't you my first-mate?!" he snapped back. "Have a little faith!"

"I have more faith in my common sense than in you!"

"Trust my judgment a bit!"

"I've learned since I joined this crew that your judgment sucks when it comes to finding Yonkou and women! Just stop the fight already before you drop dead!"

"The woman speaks wisely," Jimbei said.

"For the first and last time in her life, someone thinks so," Ace muttered under his breath. He raised his voice a bit to let her hear clearly. "If you want this fight to be over, then just sit back, shut your trap, and let me do this."

The fisherman gave a grave nod. "Then I have no choice but to stop you."

Jimbei spread his hands in front of him, preparing for another attack as Ace shifted his feet to retaliate. Spade ground her teeth in annoyance and gave a small twirl of her hands, causing a gigantic tornado to land right between them.

"This fight's over," she said evenly. "Men, get your captain. We're pulling out."

Marcus looked at her uneasily.

"You…you sure about this, Spade?"

"I'll take the blame for it," she said shortly. "Just get Ace out of there before he dies."

The men nodded and rushed forward to haul Ace out. He indignantly pushed them back, but he seemed at his limit and collapsed on the ground. Upon seeing Ace's fall, Spade dissolved the tornado and strode over.

"We're leaving, Jimbei," she called. "This is a draw."

Jimbei did not hear, for he fell face-first on the ground as well, unconscious. Spade shook her head. _Men_. Close to death and they still didn't know when to run away…

Ace was not quite unconscious, and was still insisting on fighting.

"If you don't regain your sanity in the next two seconds, I'll knock you out myself," Spade said warningly. "Get a grip on yourself, Ace." She gave a curt nod to Marco. "Tell the men to prepare the ship; I'll take him back."

Marco returned to the ship, his voice echoing Spade's orders, as Spade hoisted Ace's arm over her shoulder and began to drag him back.

"Jeez, Skye…"

"How many times did I tell you, it's _Spade_."

"Right, well, I can walk by myself, Skye."

"You can't even stand by yourself, dumbass."

There was a sudden loud rumbling behind them; Spade turned halfway around to find a gargantuan ship appearing in the sea behind them. A powerful voice emanated from its deck.

"Which one of you said he'd take my head? If you want it so badly, here's your chance!"

She heard Marcus cry out behind her.

"It's the Whitebeard Pirates!"

"_Shit_, Ace, you idiot!" Spade hissed, pulling him faster towards their ship. "There's no way we can fight them right now; there was no way we could fight them ever! Oh, why the _hell_ did I ever let you come—"

The ground in front of her split, leaving an enormous chasm between her and the rest of the crew. She bit her lower lip. Percent chance of surviving Edward Newgate's attacks: zero. He was the host of the Gura Gura no Mi…no elemental weakness. Running seemed to be the wisest idea. Take Ace back to the ship, get a couple good winds going…maybe they had a chance. She looked down at her legs, concentrating.

A voice appeared behind her.

"Hey, little missy, isn't it dangerous to be standing in the middle of nowhere with your back to the enemy? Not a very smart idea, y'know…"

His voice disappeared from hearing as she flew over the gigantic chasm, Ace clinging to her shoulder. Spade landed forcefully, the ability of her legs causing the ground to crack under her. She turned around to see who it was that had appeared behind her without her detection.

She recognized him from the bounty posters plastered all over Marine Headquarters: Marco, commander of Whitebeard's first division. He looked at her with a bemused expression, his eyes flickering back to the fifty-foot long gap between the two of them.

"Pretty interesting ability ya got," he remarked. "You a Devil's Fruit user?"

She decided not to answer, reacting instead to a fearful rumbling behind her. The Spade Pirates' ship cracked in half like a twig, the water from the earthquake's eruption sloshing over the coast, dousing the men closest to the boat. She twisted around to see if Marco was trying to attack: he was gone.

"Guys!" Ace yelled desperately at the disappearing crewmates.

"This is a fruitless battle, Ace," Spade said softly. "If you don't cooperate with me, we're not going to get out of here alive."

"No, you'll be fine," Ace said hurriedly, struggling to stand up straight.

Spade caught him gently by the shoulder and pushed him up.

"_I'll_ be fine?" she said with an arched eyebrow. "Ace, dear, I'm the only way you're going to get out of here. You can't even move."

He was not listening to her, his dark eyes scanning the coast.

"Skye, tell the men to get on the ship and run away. With your ability, you should be able to push the ship to safety. Go on."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"I'll hold them off."

He turned behind him. Whitebeard had descended his ship. He was peering over the edges of his prominent mustache to view the scene. Spade could hear cries from the coast, yelling for Ace and her to draw back.

"Enjoumou!" Ace created a wall of fire around the three of them, cutting the rest of the crew off from sight. "You guys make a run for it!"

Whitebeard looked down at the two of them skeptically.

"What? Are you going to be a coward?"

"Let my crewmates escape!" Ace demanded. "In return, I'll stay right here!"

"What a cheeky little brat you are…and what about the little girl beside you?"

Spade felt a rustle of anger despite the desperation of the situation.

"I'll be staying here as well," she replied firmly, refraining from a sassy response.

"No, you won't!" Ace said, rounding on her. "Get out of here!"

"No offense, Ace, but right now, I stand a better chance than you do."

"Skye…"

"I've heard about you two," commented Whitebeard. "Hm…yes, though I don't think I've seen the girl's pictures in the papers before. Just you, kiddo. What do they call you two again?"

Spade's hand tightened on Ace's wrist. "Ace of Spades."

Whitebeard gave a booming laugh.

"Ace of Spades, indeed! Then both of you, come at me!"

"It's just me this time," Ace said through gritted teeth. He whirled around, looking at Spade straight in the eye as his fist sank in her stomach. She gave a choked cough, feeling unconsciousness claim her.

"Sorry," Ace said quietly. "Go to sleep."

And she blacked out.

* * *

**Free Talk**:

And the end of another chapter. :) I hope you enjoyed it. Just a little head's up--I will _not_ be going along with all the arcs with the Strawhat crew. Like this chapter, I'm probably just going to select a few scenes here and there and change it around with the past. Spade will not always be telling her past experiences to Zoro; I just found it appropriate for Spade and Zoro to reconcile.

As you can see, I'm incorporating a lot of the stuff I found out in very recent chapters in the manga, since the newest chapters all had to do with Ace, which I was very happy to see. For those of you not updated with the manga, GO READ IT. It's not very fun having it spoiled by me...

I also don't know if I overdid Blackbeard's accent. I normally have characters speak correctly grammatically, so trying to display his odd accent was a bit troublesome. Please tell me what you think!

Please tell me what you thought of this chapter! Any questions or comments are also welcome!

Please review!!!!!!

Love, -jenni-


	7. Likes and Dislikes

**Chapter 7: Likes and Dislikes**

Spade woke up suddenly with a terrible headache and a nauseating feeling in her stomach. Her eyes snapped open as all the images of what had happened with Whitebeard flashed through her head, and she bolted upright, wincing slightly at the pain that moving so abruptly had caused. Ace…what had happened? Was he still alive? She looked at her surroundings. She was in an unfamiliar barrack on a cleanly starched bed. Her pouch of daggers was laid beside her. She surveyed herself. There were no wounds of any sort…just what was going on?

She stood up and headed for the door, a dagger in her hand, just as the door slammed open. She grabbed the intruder by the collar, eyes flashing dangerously as she pointed the dagger at his throat.

"Whoa, lady, is that any way to be treatin' someone who just saved your damn life?" a familiar voice said in a slight drawl.

Spade lurched back, squinting as the light flooded the room. She recognized the visitor: Marco.

"You woke up pretty quick," he said, grinning. "It's only been an hour or so. But then again, we didn't do you no harm…it was your own man that knocked you out."

"Yeah, I know that…" she said, her lips turned in a frown. "You guys took us on your ship? Why?"

"The old man said we should," Marco replied with a shrug. "He's interested in the two o' you." He took a step closer to her, a hand outstretched. "The name's Marco."

"I know," she blurted out accidentally. When he gave her a strange look, she recovered. "I mean…sorry, I knew that…you're…sort of famous," she finished awkwardly, taking his hand.

Marco gave a laugh at her shakiness.

"Ya don't need to be so nervous, y'know. Not like I'm gonna kill you or anything…"

"I know that," Spade said shortly, embarrassed by her previous behavior. "Sorry, it's just that you're a bit famous out there, so it was a bit of a surprise seeing you face to face."

"You seemed to be just fine when we were fighting."

Spade frowned. "Behavior tends to be different when we're on the battlefield compared to being in a bedroom. Speaking of which…" she looked around, "this room is pretty nice. Whitebeard must be loaded if all the rooms are singles like this."

"Nah, it's just this one that's a single. Most of the men are cramped together in the barracks down below."

"Where's Ace?"

"On deck."

"In a room like this?"

"Nah, course not! Ya got this one because we couldn't put a girl with all the other men. That wouldn't be very safe."

"It's not necessary to treat me differently," she said snappishly. "This room is nice, true, but I'm fine with worse conditions…besides, I'm not injured."

"It's jus' manners, ma'am."

She stared at him, horrified.

"What?" he said warily.

"Don't you _ever_ call me that again."

"Ma'am?"

"Just don't," she said, shuddering as she recollected memories that she'd rather not. "Please."

"Oh. Sorry. You jus' seem to have…a kind of sophisticated aura. Like…the way ya talk. It's too clear for ya to be a pirate."

"Well, I am," she answered evenly.

"Fine by me. So what's your name?"

"It's Spade."

"Spade…" Marco said thoughtfully. "So that's how you guys got Ace of Spades? Clever."

"Not in particular. Is Ace awake yet?"

"Nah, he's out like a light 'cause he got _destroyed_ by the old man. Didn't ya see? Oh wait…never mind…" A wary expression came onto his face as he noticed her face darken.  
"Where is he right now?"

"Out on deck with Thatch. Thatch is—"

"Fourth squad's commander."

Marco looked surprised. "Ya knew that too? Ya seem pretty well-informed, little missy."

"I just know a lot about these things…" she could feel the anger at Ace bubble up in her chest. "Mind taking me to Ace?"

"Won't do you any good, y'know. He's not wakin' up. The old man beat the crap outta him."

"I'll wake him up," Spade said curtly.

Marco gave a sigh and beckoned her to follow him. They walked together along the side of the enormous deck, amidst cat-calls, jeers, and whistles. Marco rolled his eyes.

"If you've got enough time to go checkin' the new girl out, ya might as well go an' do some work," he chastised the crew. Marco turned to Spade, an apologetic expression on his face. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," she said shortly. "Where's Ace?"

Marco stretched out his arm and pointed to a limp figure leaning against the side of the wall. Ace was badly wounded, blood splashed over his face and entire chest. Spade felt a ripple of fury.

"You guys gave _me_ the bed and not _him?_" she said angrily.

"Thought it would insult 'im if we bandaged 'im up and stuff."

Spade strode by Marco toward Ace without another word and stopped in front of her partner.

"Hey, how long are you going to stay asleep?" she said.

Ace didn't move.

"I don't think he can hear ya," Marco said.

Spade twirled her hand in the air, causing a part of a wave to rise up and hover over Ace's head, the wind around the water struggling to keep it levitated. Marco scrambled out of the way just as Spade dropped the water on Ace's head, splashing her legs with the cool liquid. Ace immediately reacted, waking up and shaking the salt water out of his eyes.

"Awake?" she said coolly.

Ace looked up, confused to see her. He blinked and stood up shakily.

"Skye?" he said quizzically. "What are you doing here? Are we dead? Oh, right. Gotcha. We're in heaven, aren't we? But weird. I thought I saved you. Why're you in heaven too?"

His stupidity sent Spade's anger over the top, and she brought her hand down on Ace's cheek as hard as she could. The force of the blow sent him flying to the side.

"GO TO HELL, ACE!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Okay, definitely not in heaven," Ace shuddered as he stood up unsteadily. "If I were in heaven, this she-demon wouldn't be here."

"THIS SHE-DEMON IS GOING TO _KILL_ YOU!" Spade screeched, rushing towards him, nothing but her feet materialized.

Thanks to Spade's method of waking Ace up, Ace was unable to use his Mera Mera abilities and avoid the attack. Her kick connected with a satisfying feeling, sending Ace off his feet as he went crashing into an onlooker.

"WHAT THE HELL MADE YOU THINK THAT YOU COULD KNOCK ME OUT?!" she bellowed, wind vapors forming over her hands.

"I was saving your life!" Ace yelled back.

"I—" she sent a wind blast in his direction. "—NEVER—" another blast "—ASKED—YOU—TO!"

Her destructive nature had created holes in the sides of the deck. Ace had managed to dodge them all despite his wounds, perhaps due to her messy formation that resulted from her anger. Exactly why she was feeling so angry, she wasn't quite sure, but something just seemed off in her system knowing that Ace was willing to ensure that she lived while staring at death straight in the eyes. Why did he think her life was more important than his?! What made him think that he had any reason to throw his life away for a stranger he had picked up a year ago?! This worry interwoven with anger came out the wrong way—through attacking.

Spade felt someone grab her by the shoulders and hold her hands behind her back. She turned around to see Marco, an amused expression on his face.

"Sorry, Spade," he said, "but you're gonna end up killing him at this rate."

"Let. Me. Go."

"Sorry."

His grip grew stronger, and for some reason, she could not vaporize. She looked down; he had some sort of metal in his hands…probably Kairouseki.

"I won't attack him," she said after taking a few deep breaths.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Marco let go, watching Spade warily as she walked over to Ace, who was stumbling away from the crewmate who was helping her up.

"You are one crazy woman," he said feverishly as she stood in front of him, barely coming up to his shoulder. "Why the hell did you start attacking me?"

"Why the hell did you try to save me?!"

"Well I couldn't just sit there and let you die!"

"I wouldn't have! I was in better condition than you were, Ace! You should've left while _I_ held him off!"

"I couldn't do that. I mean…you're a woman."

She slapped him again, eyes flashing. Ace frowned.

"Stop hitting me."

"Stop _discriminating_. I'm first-mate; I'm as reliable as everyone else! Why couldn't you trust me and let me help you?! What does Ace of Spades mean to you, Ace?! It's not just one person!"

"I didn't want to see you get hurt! You weren't in tip-top shape; I knew you were tired after watching me and Jimbei fight for five days straight—"

"Oh, so you tried to be self-sacrificial and end up killing us both anyway with your chivalry?"

"Skye, I didn't mean to insult you."

"It's _Spade_, for goodness' sake!"  
He ignored her, his eyes trailing over to Marco, who was standing behind Spade. Ace reached out and pulled her protectively to his chest.

"Skye, why the hell are we on Whitebeard's ship?"

The question was more directed towards Marco than her. Spade stared determinedly up at Ace's chin as he addressed the first division commander, trying not to look at his chest, which, though bloody, was still nicely chiseled.

"The old man said that we should take you guys on the Moby Dick. All your crewmen are here too, even though you told them to run away. We beat the crap out of them, but everyone's alive."

"You okay with us having no guard or handcuffs?" Ace asked, suspicion clouding his dark eyes.

"Yeah," Marco said with another nonchalant shrug. "Besides, you look dead on your feet…and I think this little missy will be keeping you in line."

"Bullshit, you know I want to kill Whitebeard."

Marco rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. I'll show you to a room…you can treat your wounds and rest for a little longer."

"I don't need your pity," Ace snarled.

"Just go," Spade said sharply. "And while you're at it, let go of me."

Marco beckoned for them to follow him, and Ace grudgingly did, leaning heavily on Spade all the while. Flustered, she attempted to voice her displeasure; he gave her a scowl, making her shut up. At any other time, she would have replied hotly, but seeing Ace so badly beaten up and being half the cause of it made her insides squirm strangely in guilt, and she supported him as they followed Marco. They entered the room Spade woke up in, and Marco, with a meaningful smirk, shut the door behind him.

"I'll get Whitebeard after I wake up!" Ace shouted at the wooden door.

"Ace, drop it, you're too wounded to be worrying about this."

"Skye, what hurts the most right now are the wounds you just gave me—"

He looked down ad stopped at her expression.

"I didn't mean to say that," he said hastily, bewildered. "Hey, don't look like that."

"Don't look like what?"

"You…you look _guilty_. It's…scary."

Spade looked at him, confused.

"What would I be guilty about?"

"…Hitting me?"

"Definitely not."

"…Yeah, you are. It's in your eyes."

He gave a deep sigh, his face showing extreme weariness.

"I'll deal with Whitebeard later," he said dully. "I…"

He slumped into her arms, much to her surprise.

"Ace?" she said uncertainly, patting his back awkwardly.

"I'm tired as hell…"

"The bed's right here, no need to lean on me."

"Hey, can I lay on your lap for a while?"

She stared at him.

"There's a pillow," she said icily.

"C'mon, Skye…"

He tugged her closer onto the bed, laying his head on her lap.

"You can treat my wounds," he suggested.

"Dream on."

"Come on…run your fingers through my hair or somethin'. I need some feminine touch."

"Because you haven't screwed a woman in days?"

"No, because I want you to comfort me a bit."

For some reason, she did not refuse him or pull away. Damn…she couldn't fall for his tricks. Ace was a playboy; she'd seen this fact proven many times since she'd joined him. Her hand, however, unconsciously went to his dust-covered hair and patted it awkwardly, then slowly, ran her fingers through the black strands. Damn…she shouldn't be doing this. But…as she watched Ace fall asleep, she smiled very faintly. She reached over into the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of medicine and some bandages. It wouldn't hurt to treat him just this once.

******************

_One week later_.

Someone splashed overboard. Spade, who was helping Marco carry some boxes over to the storage room, looked over her shoulder to see the source of the commotion.

"It's Ace," Marco said, grinning. "Man, he's _got_ to stop tryin' to kill Whitebeard. This is gettin' ridiculous."

"Where do these need to go?" Spade asked.

"Door to your left. Yeah, that one. Say," he said as Spade kicked open the door, "shouldn't you help Ace out of the water? He's gonna drown."

"Nope," Spade replied, setting the boxes down and patting the dust off her hands. "I'm sure they'll get someone to fetch him."

Marco leaned out the doorway.

"It looks like they haven't," he said. "They're all tired of Ace gettin' thrown overboard. You go help him; it's most convenient for you anyway."

Spade walked over to the side of the ship and peered down into the deep water. She could see Ace's cowboy hat floating on the surface, its owner nowhere to be seen. Not perturbed, she simply moved a hand up and Ace's body came levitating out of the water and onto the deck. The teenager spat out a mouthful of seawater.

"My hat," he said hoarsely.

It flew onto his head before he finished speaking. He finally looked up, meeting Spade's ice green eyes. He winced.

"Don't hit me," he said, bringing an arm defensively up in front of him.

"How long is it going to take for you to understand that you can't beat this guy?" Spade said wearily. "Go _do_ something with yourself, why don't you? Instead of wasting all this time, trying to assassinate one of the Yonkou…and even if you somehow managed it, how would you get away from the crew? Use your head, Ace. It hasn't seemed to be working properly since you got beat up."

He stared at her with a strange look on his face.

"What?" she said, exasperated.

"That's it?" he said cautiously.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…you're not gonna hit me?"

"…Not unless you want me to."

"No, no, that's a'ight. It's just…I dunno, I thought you would just automatically hit me for bein' an idiot."

Spade reached down and touched a long, bleeding gash on his cheek. He jerked back instinctively.

"You're bleeding," she said coolly, offended by his response and straightening up. "Go get it treated."

She left him and returned back to Marco, out of sorts. She knew she was acting strangely; Ace was right, had it been a week earlier, Spade would've sent him flying for being such a dumbass. But after recent events, Spade found herself softening up. She gritted her teeth and ignored the disturbing thoughts.

"He's starin' at ya," the commander smirked.

"Shut it," she said snappishly.

"Man, he is _confused_."

"I said, shut it," Spade said, eyes flashing dangerously.

Marco did not attempt to pursue teasing her.

"The old man says that he wants to talk to you," he said.

"What in the world for? Why not talk to Ace? Tell him to stop being a bloody idiot."

"Nah…it seems that the old man has been diggin' around in your past."

Spade stiffened.

"What gave him the right to do that?" she questioned, her tone venomous.

"Anyone can look someone up," Marco said defensively. "He just wants to talk to you about it."

Spade, now knowing her way around the Moby Dick, went to Whitebeard's cabin. After a short knock and a gruff "Come in," she entered the room. Whitebeard was a gigantic man, and old at that. His body was hooked up to various needles and transfusion packs as female nurses tended to him. He looked at Spade with a watchful eye.

"Skye Spade, eh?" he said. "Sit down."

She obeyed, sitting in the straight wooden chair across from the most powerful man of the seas.

"I'm a nosy person," he admitted, "so I took the liberty of findin' some stuff out 'bout you. Hope ya don't mind."

"Of course not," she said in a steely tone. "What'd you find?"

"Your relationship with the Marines. Frankly, it's a bit iffy if we can keep ya onboard. Might be dangerous to the crew."

"It's been a while since I left…I think the havoc's died down."

"Havoc doesn't die down, girly. Not when you're a Vice Admiral who's betrayed de Marines."

Spade pursed her lips and said nothing.

"Why're they after you?"

"I found out some stuff that I shouldn't have," she said vaguely.

"Explain."

She did not dare disobey.

"Ohara. And…the secret about the weapons that the scholars had found…and why the World Government doesn't want it revealed."

"I see. And you left because you thought it was unjust."

"I…was raised as Marine under Admiral Aokiji. Justice is the Marine's honor code. It was unsettling to see it twisted so much."

"And so you became a pirate?"

There was a pause.

"There were two things I hated the most when I was a Marine. One of them were pirates, because I'd seen enough destruction that they'd made for fun…all those lives they'd ruined in their conquest to fulfill their greed…it was sickening. As a Marine…you sort of learn to hate them."

"Understandable. There're many pirates that are dishonorable. There is no personal reason?"

"No. My view on pirates has changed; some are not all that bad."

"Indeed," Whitebeard chuckled. "But we all like to have our fun. Well, then…Skye Spade, are you willing to take my name upon your back? Most of my sons are, well, men, obviously, but I am interested in you. I would be willing to have you as part of my crew. What about it?"

"…Whitebeard. I…this is an honor. But…I must remember that at any moment, the Marines can come after me. And it's not just a few simple Marines either…Aokiji and his colleagues are rather anxious to capture me, which is one of the reasons why I let Ace get all the attention for Ace of Spades…I need to stay undercover. I'm…" she chose her next words carefully and hesitatingly. "I'm rather interested in Ace, and I'd like to stay his partner or first-mate as long as I can. But if the Marines come after me…I'll have to leave immediately. So…so I'm afraid I can't agree to being one of Whitebeard's pirates."

"Hm. So if this Ace kid becomes a son of mine, you'll stay?"

"If…that's all right with you."

"But you will not take my name upon your back."

"…No."

Whitebeard sighed.

"I suppose there's nothin' I can do to change your mind."

"I'm afraid not."

"Very well. You'll stay as an honorary member then…well, if Ace kiddo stays. I ask, however, for you to follow my orders as long as you stay here."

"Of course."

"Fine, fine. You're dismissed. Go tell Marco to steer towards our next destination, will you?"

"Where would that be?"

"Shabondy Archipelago."

Spade froze.

"Shabondy?" she repeated.

"Somethin' wrong with it?"

She managed to recover herself.

"No…no, nothing. I'll go tell him."

Spade left the cabin and found herself assaulted by a crowd of men on their way to lunch. Marco trotted to her side, barely managing to squeeze through before he straightened up and addressed her.

"What's up?"

"He says to set sail toward Shabondy."

"Already on our way. Somethin' wrong, Spade? You're a bit pale."

"No, I'm fine."

Marco looked uncertain at her reassurance but before he could ask again, Ace, much to her relief, approached her with a wary look on his face.

"Hey, Skye."

"Hello."

"…Somethin' wrong?"

"Nothing. I need a bit of air."

She ascended the stairs to the roof of the barracks, swallowing the cold winds. It would be easier to calm down if she were a part of it all together…with that thought, she became invisible, simply shimmering in one place.

Spade heard footsteps as someone joined her. She didn't need to turn around to sense that familiar aura of heat and flames.

"Skye."

She didn't answer.

"I know where ya are, y'know." He reached out his hand and put an arm out on where her shoulder was. With a sigh, she materialized and turned to face him.

"What do you want, Ace?"

"I just fancied a chat. Wanna sit?"

He guided her to the railings and sat her down, sliding beside her. They sat in silence for a moment, surveying the blue skies.

"What d'you like, Skye?"

"…Chocolate. Winds. Cold air."

He chuckled at the jibe at his disposition.

"So what do you hate?"

"…"

"Don't say pirates. You _are_ one now."

"I hate the Marines."

"Don't we all? What else?"

She could see the island of mangroves and floating bubbles in front of her eyes.

"Shabondy Archipelago. I hate the Tenryuubito."

* * *

**Free Talk:**

Hello! Thanks for all your reviews, and please continue to review as I update! It does wonders to my motivation, believe me. If I don't get a lot, I tend to be wayyy slower in updating.

There isn't really much to say about this chapter. Hopefully it didn't bore you...I particularly enjoy making Spade so hot-tempered, though she's softened up on Ace a bit. :D Yay for development! For literary purposes, the next chapter might have some parts in Ace's POV; it's sort of tiring staying with Spade's.

I've started another DGM fanfiction, so for DGM fans, please read and tell me what you think! It's my first AU story, so I'd really like some feedback. :)

Any questions or comments? PLEASE REVIEW! Those who simply Story-Alert/Favorite, thanks for doing so, but I'd appreciate it a lot more if you reviewed as well, because it lets me know if you're keeping up with this because you like it or simply because you just want to keep up with it. :)

Thanks, -jenni-


	8. Rifts

**Chapter 8: Rifts **

"The Tenryuubito?" Ace repeated, surprised.

Spade did not reply to his intended question, hating herself for actually saying her private dislikes aloud. What was this, some sort of bonding time? Ace and his playboy ways; she couldn't fall for them. She'd been too soft on him this entire week…any closer, and she might actually…she did not bother to finish the thought.

Spade stood up quickly, brushing the dust off the bottom of her shorts.

"I'll go to lunch," she said. "Bye."

She turned to leave but was stopped by Ace, who reached up and grabbed her hand.

"We were having a nice moment," he said. "Why'd you break it off so suddenly?"

"Because I'm hungry."

"I saw you at breakfast; you ate a ton. And you ate late. You aren't hungry; you're trying to get away from me."

"Why is that surprising?"

"Aren't we friends?!"

"Friends, maybe, maybe not. Are we close? Definitely not. I'm not going to fall for your tricks and charms, all right? I'm not like those other loose girls you find at the bars and such."

"But I did find you at a bar."

"And I'm saying that I'm atypical. Let go, Ace."

"No."

She gave a scowl and tried to slip away from his grasp by melting into the wind. Before she could, however, she felt something heavy clink over her wrist, and immediately, she felt a suffocating pressure on her shoulders. She couldn't dematerialize.

"Now you can't disappear," Ace grinned.

Spade looked down at her wrist, eyes widening at the sight of the Karouseki handcuff.

"Where the _hell_ did you get that?!" she demanded.

"Stole it from Marco. Took a hell of a beating though."

"You…you _dare_ try to handcuff me?!"

"Hey, I'm cuffed too." Ace raised his wrist, showing that he had taken the other cuff. "So we're a pair! Now we can sit down and have a nice chat."

Spade aimed a kick immediately at Ace, who was forced into a completely unnatural position to dodge it. The moment he straightened up, she slapped him as hard as she could with her left hand.

"Ow…you idiot…"

"Unlock it," she said in deadly calm.

"Nope."

"_Un. Lock. It._"

"I can't."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU CAN'T?!"

"I forgot to steal the key from Marco."

"ARE YOU AN IDIOT?!"

"Well now we can talk nicely," Ace said brightly.

"YOU—HAVE—GOT—TO—BE—_KIDDING—ME!_"

She whirled her hand back to punch him straight in the face, seeing as her wind powers were severely limited, but the idea of having hand-to-face contact seemed much more pleasurable at the moment anyway, so she didn't particularly mind. Ace, however, caught her fist easily by tugging the hand that was linked to hers forward, blocking the blow and causing Spade to lose her footing at the sudden pull. He took advantage of her carelessness and pushed her down on the floor, grinning.

"I win," he said, his freckly face above hers.

"Get off of me," she said dangerously.

"Whatcha you gonna to do about it?"

"I'm going to knee you in the crotch so hard, you won't even be able to screw—"

"You got such a lame attitude, Skye."

Spade jerked her knee upwards, but Ace anticipated her move and simply caught it in his free hand, pushing it slowly back on the ground as he leaned over her, his cuffed hand pushing hers firmly to the wooden floor while he gripped her thigh and left hand together against each other. His legs were locked over hers, immobilizing all her limbs.

"Let's talk," he said cheerfully.

"This doesn't make any sense," she said coldly. "Just earlier this morning, you were deliberately avoiding me because you thought I would beat the shit out of you for bothering Whitebeard again. Now, you're _trying_ to make me beat the shit out of you. What are you doing?! If you're thinking that I'm not going to hit you just because I've been more lenient for the last week, you're dead wrong."

"Don't beat me up, a'ight?" Ace said seriously. "I have enough wounds to last me a lifetime."

"You deserve it. Now get off of me."

"If I do, will you promise not to hit me?"

"No."

"Then we'll just stay like this," Ace said dryly. "You said that you've been lenient lately, so let's talk about last week."

"What about it?" asked Spade without the slightest bit of enthusiasm.

"You've been acting strangely."

"How so?"

"You…well, you haven't been trying to beat me up as often."

The surprising statement caught her off guard, and the wrinkle between her eyebrows eased slightly.

"You _want_ me to beat you up?" she said incredulously.

"No, no, definitely not," Ace said quickly. "It's just…well, ever since I first woke up here, you been kinda…almost…nice."

"No. I have not."

"Don't believe it if you don't want to, but I can provide many examples."

He looked up at the sky as he began ticking off incidents.

"Well, first, when I woke up, all my wounds were bandaged, and the wrappings were clean, meaning that someone had been changing them constantly."

"That could've been anyone. Marco, Thatch, or the freaking doctor."

"Nah, it was definitely you."

"What the hell?!"

"Only women can make bow-ties that neat," Ace explained with a shrug. "Seeing as you're the only female pirate here, it was probably you."

"It could've been Whitebeard's nurses!"

"Ah, but see, you said 'could've.' Which meant that it _was_ you."

What the hell was up with his twisted logic?!

"Anyway," Ace continued, "after I woke up, you didn't yell at me again for knocking you out. Instead, you brought me food. That was nice."

"That was obligation. As your first-mate."

"Well, anyone coulda done it. Why did you?"

"…"

"Because no one else bothered to," Ace answered for her. "And because you were being nice."

"Stop dreaming and get off of me, Ace."

"After that, even though I tried to kill Whitebeard over ten times per day, not once did you actually hit me. You yelled, you screamed, but you didn't _hit_. Why? Because you were being considerate of my wounds. Something that you didn't do before."

"Could you stop fantasizing already?!" she said angrily, trying to move her legs but failing miserably. Ace simply applied more pressure.

"You wanna know what I think about all this?" he said, leaning closer to her face.

"No."

"I think you've fallen for me."

The words sent a jolt of electricity running down her spine, though Spade could not determine what emotion caused it. All she knew as that she was infuriated by his cockiness and idiotic assumption.

"I think you've lost your mind," she said icily. "Ace. Get. Off. Of. Me."

"No. Admit it, Skye. You've fallen for me."

"I. Think. Not."

"I think so."

"For God's sake, get the freaking hell off of me and stop screwing around! You're an idiot, Ace! You're presumptuous, you're a playboy, you're everything that I _hate_ about a guy! Don't think that your stupid flirtatious ways can win me over just because I was being more considerate about your weakened state—I swear, the moment I get these handcuffs off, I'm going to rip you apart, limb from limb—"

Her tirade stopped short when Ace leaned closer to her face, much to close for comfort. She could feel his hot breath on her cheek, near her mouth.

"Get away," she said, voice softer than she would've liked.

"No."

His lips touched hers gently, coaxingly. Her mind immediately shut down. Spade, who had been raised by the Marines in strict order, had never been kissed before. Men had tried occasionally, true, but Aokiji had trained her well enough to practically obliterate anyone who had attempted, and her reputation as a feisty woman had kept the rest at bay…

This was different. Very different. This sort of…intimate contact that she wasn't used to…this kind of affection, this passion…she found the kiss dragging out for longer than she could stand; she pulled away, but Ace's mouth simply followed hers, and he began to pass over the introductory way of kissing into the more advanced methods.

Spade was not stupid; she knew full well right off the bat that Ace was a fantastic kisser. He was enticing in a way, as his lips did not leave hers and instead brought her mind to a strange sort of lightheadedness. He knew how to destroy all her barriers, to seal away her anger…he knew how to make her lose herself. Her head spun and she naturally closed her eyes as Ace kissed her passionately, ardently, with a sort of skill that could only come with practice, but Spade did not consider that fact at the moment; she was too focused on Ace, on the intimacy…so absorbed with the unfamiliar sensations bubbling up in her chest that she forgot exactly who she was, where she was…

She was running short on breath and moved her face away, looking at the side. Ace was not perturbed by the action; Spade could hear him chuckle slightly, knowing that he had realized her inexperience…she felt his lips touch her cheek, gliding his tongue down the side of her face, to her neck. The hand that was locking hers was, for some reason, unnaturally hot…she was growing hyperaware of Ace's presence.

There was a loud bang from the first floor as men began rushing out of the cafeteria and back to work. The sudden noise jerked Spade out of her stupor, and she turned to Ace, wide-eyed and disbelieving. His hold on her limbs had loosened significantly through the moments before, and she pushed him off easily, breathing raggedly all the while. She scooted as far away from him as she could, though the link around their hands did not allow her to move very far.

"I know you have the key. _Release me_," she said harshly.

Ace simply gave a smile and dug into his pocket, withdrawing a small silver key. Spade lunged for it immediately but collided with Ace's body, struggling to take the key from Ace's hand.

"_I'll_ do it, Skye. You sit still."

Spade tried to slip as far away from Ace as possible, but this time, Ace's strong arm kept her close enough for her to feel his damp breath on her forehead. She stared determinedly past his shoulder, keeping her eyes from straying to Ace's chest. She heard a click as Ace unlocked the handcuffs and immediately jumped away upon hearing so, relieved to find that she had regained freedom of movement. Upon the regained movement came regained confidence, and, as a tagalong, a fresh surge of anger at him and herself. To think that she could let her guard down that badly, to actually almost fall for this guy…

"Man," Ace said, almost laughing. "_Man_, Skye."

"Don't you dare talk about it," she said frigidly, wiping the smile right off of Ace's face with a sort of vindictive satisfaction.

"You kissed me back, Skye," he said, now frowning. "You enjoyed it. You've got to admit it sooner or later."

"No, I don't. Let's just pretend this never happened."

Spade stood up and turned around to leave. She felt Ace grab her wrist and immediately snapped it out his hand, not risking the possibility that he could handcuff her again.

"Stop being stubborn, Skye," said Ace a bit coolly.

"Stop being arrogant," she replied in a much deadlier tone, her green eyes flashing with unspeakable anger. "This never happened. And it won't happen again. Believe me."

******************

_A few hours later_.

"Land ahoy!" Marco's voice rang over the ship. Men scuttled on deck to pull closer to the archipelago of mangroves as shouts and orders could be heard over the rustling winds.

"Make the winds a bit stronger, Spade," said Marco's voice right behind Spade.

She turned around, unsurprised at his sneakiness. Instantly, the breezes became stronger, letting the sails of the Moby Dick catch them, and the ship progressed smoothly in the direction of the mangroves.

"Better?" she asked.

"Yeah, thanks," the first division commander said, nodding. "Say, you okay? Ya look a little…pissed off."

"I'm fine."

"…Sure?"

"_Yes_."

He looked slightly taken back at the cold finality of her tone, but Marco was never one to be strongly offended at Spade's candidness; he had been hanging around Spade a great deal of the week, and was thus very much used to her personality. Instead, his eyes caught sight of Spade, who was passing by a few feet in front of them, a sour expression on his face. Everything in Marco's mind seemed to click into place, for he turned to Spade with a small grin on his face.

"Got in a _fight_?" he said with emphasis on the last word.

"Ace's just sulking," Spade said calmly. "He'll get over it."

Ace was barely in hearing range, so Spade wasn't sure if he heard her words; his scowl, however, did deepen, so she simply assumed he had. Marco simply shook his head at the state of their argument and addressed Spade again.

"The old man wants to see ya."

"Again?"

"Dunno why. But you should go before we land. At the rate that your winds have given us…I'd say we'll be there within five minutes."

Spade gave a terse nod and headed to Whitebeard's cabin, which was now empty except for the Yonkou member.

"Skye Spade," he greeted solemnly.

"Hello. Marco said you needed something."

"Just letting you know that I'm going to ask the Ace kiddo to join my crew."

"…Sure."

"You'll be staying, then?"

Spade opened her mouth to say that she would stay only if Ace did…but shut it suddenly. After today's incident, maybe it would be better if she separated from Ace…

"Yes."

"…Even if he doesn't stay."

"Yes."

"…You two got in a fight," Whitebeard said wisely.

"…No. Well, not really. Okay, yes. But that's besides the point."

"Young'uns," Whitebeard said almost to himself, shaking his head. "Well, I think that kid will stay, so you're outta luck. I also wanted to warn you…Marines could potentially be on this archipelago, seein' how it's where the Tenryuubito stay an' all. Watch your back."

"Yes, sir."

She was dismissed with a wave of Whitebeard's gigantic hand, and she stepped out of the room, debating whether or not she should even get off the ship. The men were simply there to get some supplies and have some fun…maybe it would be safer if she simply stayed put. Marco approached her in the middle of her thoughts.

"What's up?"

"Ah," she said, understanding that he wanted to hear what Whitebeard wanted. "It's nothing; he just wanted to know that he was going to ask Ace to join."

"Yeah," Marco said, nodding. "Thatch is gettin' to that." He gestured at the two conversing men a few feet away. "Ya stayin' then?"

"Yes, for a while, at least."

Marco's face broke out in a grin and he clapped a hand on her shoulder.

"Welcome aboard, mate."

"Thanks," she said, giving a small smile.

"Well, if the kiddo stays, maybe you guys can get along a bit better," said Marco with a meaningful wink.

"Shut up, Marco."

He let out a loud laugh and, being much taller than she was, tousled her hair like a child before going off and ordering the men to steer and lower the anchor. Spade caught sight of Ace looking in her direction, his attention perhaps attracted by the sound of Marco's laughter. She ignored him deliberately, stalking over to the side of the ship and leaning over the railing to look at the endless blue sea. Ace, however, sauntered up to her moments later, and she could no longer turn a blind eye to his existence.

"I've joined," he said. "I'm gettin' a tattoo when I land."

"Congratulations."

"You're stayin' too, right?"

"Yeah."

"You gettin' a tattoo too?"

"No thanks."

"Yeah, ya got them all over your legs already," he remarked, eyeing her bare feet. "Say, where'd ya get them?"

"On this island."

"Really? So introduce me to the tattooist—"

"He disappeared."

"Oh."

Ace seemed to be getting annoyed at her blunt responses. He leaned closer to her.

"Look, if you could stop acting like a complete bitch, it would be really helpful," he said in a lowered voice.

"My bad for being one," she answered haughtily, completely unruffled by his insult.

Ace let out a low growl and reached his hand out, cupping a hand under her chin and forcing her to face him.

"Stop it, Skye," he said with a trace of anger.

"Let go."

"No."

He leaned in closer, about to kiss her. Spade did not lose her head like before though, and immediately retaliated. Her hand whipped out, slamming into the side of Ace's head; she was slightly surprised when he dematerialized, taking a second to admire the fact that he was still guarded despite the atmosphere. When his face solidified, however, he was glaring.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Skye?" he demanded. "It was just a kiss!"

She snorted. "Just a kiss to you, seeing how you've kissed so many random women before. But no thanks, I'd rather not try to be seduced by such an infamous playboy. Leave me alone, Ace. As a duo, we're fine. You're a great fighter, and we complement each other well. Outside of the battlefield, however, we're not fine. Leave me alone."

"Are you this antisocial to everyone?!"

"Pretty much," she said with a shrug.

"Really," Ace said cynically, his dark eyes narrowing. "You looked like you were gettin' along pretty well with Marco over there."

"Jealous? I think not."

She gave a cold smirk and walked away.

******************

"Marco, where the hell'd you go?!" Spade growled, arms laden with packages. "You're the guy—take this!"

She was feeling jittery from being on an island she hated so much, and every little stare or look made the hairs on the back of her neck prickle with paranoia.

The first commander took the packages from her hands easily, grinning.

"You're contradictory of yourself, ya know," he commented. "You say not to treat ya any different from the rest o' the crew, but you're makin' me carry all this?"

"I haven't even gotten time to go look around," she groaned, stretching her arms out in front of her. "You've just been playing around all afternoon. You can carry the burdens for a while."

"Half this stuff is yours, and they're all clothes!"

"Hey, our ship burned down because of you all! I need a few sets of clothes, all right?"

"Sure, sure," Marco said with a roll of his eyes. He was peering easily over the top package for another source of entertainment.

"Why don't we go have some fun at the vendors?" he suggested.

"No thanks. I sort of want to get back to the ship…"

"You haven't _done_ anything. Let loose for a while."

But Spade was hesitant. She did not want to run into the Tenryuubito; she did not know if she would be able to control herself if she did. Best get back to the ship first, and lay low…

A noise behind her, however, made her turn to find its source, and the sight she saw, for some reason, made her blood boil. Ace was walking out of a bar, his arm around a brunette with a voluptuous body. They were kissing and laughing.

Marco watched her anxiously as Spade's eyes simply narrowed at the sight of them.

"Maybe we should head back…" Marco said.

"I will," she said, taking the load from Marco's hands. "You go have fun. I'll be disappearing now."

Ace, however, called and walked over to them with his partner.

"Hey," he greeted Marco. "This is Risha. Risha, this is Marco, and this here is Skye. You guys havin' fun?"

"Pleased ta meet ya," Marco said with unfailing politeness to Risha before addressing Ace. "Yeah, we've just been shopping around."

Ace's eyes, however, were on Spade, waiting for her reaction.

"Hi," Spade said with a smile. "Pleased to meet Ace's new girl. You're number one hundred twelve."

The brunette turned to Ace, her face darkening.

"She's joking," Ace said hastily. "Aren't ya, Skye?"

Spade's eyes, however, were no longer on the frolicking couple. Her green orbs were watching an oncoming group intently.

"Shit," Marco said under his breath.

They had come.

The Tenryuubito had arrived.

* * *

**Free Talk**:

I think a DUN DUN DUN is appropriate. xD So I managed to finish another chapter! Thank you to all who reviewed, and please continue to do so!

So yes, maybe Spade did deserve Ace's little version of revenge, but hey, she's just proud and hot-tempered! She simply can't stand falling for a guy like Ace (well, the way I've depicted him, at least. :D) But don't worry, things will get better.

I just keep thinking that maybe I'm stretching Ace's personality a bit far...:O I mean, I wanted to make him so that he's congenial and mature to basically everyone, but his temper just gets the better of him whenever he's dealing with Spade. Honestly, I think anyone's temper would get the better of them if they were dealing with Spade...but I like her personality a lot, actually. She's prideful, confident, outspoken, and really too belligerent for her own good...but it's fun depicting an OC like that. Tell me what you think!

Please review! Love, -jenni-


	9. Reading Eyes

**Chapter 9: Reading Eyes**

Spade immediately tried to make a run for it.

Marco didn't let her.

"They're here," he hissed. "Get _down_."

"I am _not_ going to bow to them," she hissed back, struggling to get away. "Let me disappear; it'll be fast."

"They've already seen you."

She opened her mouth to retort, but he kicked the back of her knees, causing her to reflexively crumble to the ground. When she attempted to straighten back up, he crouched down beside her and pushed her head lower. She could taste the bitter grass in her mouth. Through her peripheral vision, she could see Ace leisurely lay face-down on the ground; he had fallen asleep. That idiot.

"We all hate them," said Marco by her ear, "but you can _not_ attack them. Whitebeard's not lookin' for a fight right now, Spade. _Behave yourself_."

She was trying; she really was. But she was gripping the blades of grass so hard, the skin over her knuckles was already stretched so taut that the veins of her hands were protruding out, and Spade could swear that she could feel the blood oozing from her palm. A deathly silence fell over the crowd as the three Tenryuubito members approached.

_Calm yourself_, she thought mechanically. _Calm, calm, calm_.

"How boring," the woman said, "this life is…move faster, you stupid slave. And to think that you were supposedly a captain in the Grand Line? You're horribly weak."

"Shalulia, there's really no need to be so angry," her father, Roswald, said. "Just hit them a bit."

Spade gritted her teeth as the group neared, her eyes catching sight of a bloodied human, crouched on the ground on all fours, supporting a woman whose head was submerged in a bubble-like contraption to prevent herself from breathing in the air of "contaminated" people. It was a pathetic sight…the human slave was struggling to support the burden on his back, but given his condition, it didn't seem very easy. Spade could hear Marco muttering something out of the corner of his mouth, but the words were unintelligible; she could feel the anger clouding her judgment, blocking her senses, and all she knew was the rising hatred in her chest, and the growing desire to lash out and attack.

"Will you move it?!" Shalulia said sharply, smacking her human form of transportation against the side of his head. He let out an anguished groan. "Don't just sit there and moan; _move!_"

There was a huge gale of wind, abrupt and strong, catching the inhabitants of the scene by surprise. The Tenryuubito woman, balanced gingerly on a tottering surface, fell over onto the ground at the breeze. Spade let out a long breath quietly as she avoided Marco's angry look.

"I can't believe this!" shrieked Shalulia, straightening up and dusting the dirt off her clothes. "How dare you! To let _me_, of all people, _fall_ to the ground trodden by you commoners—Father, kill him!"

"By all means," Roswald said lazily, pulling out a pistol.

The slave tried to make a run for it, but Spade could easily see that there was no way he was going to make it. And judging from the scenario, she had definitely been the one who had instigated all this. Thus, she had to be the one to remedy it. Slightly.

Another gust of wind battered the group, a gust so strong that several shingles from the roofs of nearby houses came flying off. The younger male Noble, Charloss, also toppled off of his seat.

"This is preposterous!" Roswald roared. "Who's doing that?! We are the Tenryuubito! No one brings a hand against us!"

"Sir," a nearby servant said, "it was the wind. No one is harming you."

"Shut up, I say!" shouted Roswald. "Even the winds must obey us! We are the Tenryuubito!"

"Spade…" breathed Marco warningly, the grip on her neck tightening.

"I know, I know," she whispered to the ground, wincing at his grip.

"Get back here!" snapped Shalulia, dragging her slave back by his chain and sitting on his back again. "We're leaving! This cursed winds…"

Spade was all for seeing them leave, and resisted doing anything further that would perhaps lengthen their stay. Her mind began to repeat words over again, _Go away, go away, go away_.

The recitation of phrases seemed to fail her miserably. Inconveniently, Spade was at a place nearest to the street, and just as she was about to rejoice that they were leaving, the Tenryuubito stopped in front of them.

"What's wrong with him?" Charloss asked, nudging Ace's head with his foot.

Spade felt an immediate surge of anger.

"He's probably dropped dead or something of the like," Roswald answered. "You know these commoners…they simply die of starvation."

"Oh, how gross," Shalulia said, wrinkling her nose. She seemed to pause directly in front of Spade and Marco. "Hm. Why are you holding her neck down like that? Is something wrong with her?"

Spade made a movement to answer the question herself, but upon feeling her resistance to his grip, Marco held her neck tightly and made sure she did not look up.

"She's got a disease that makes her all jerky an' stuff, and if I didn't hold her down, she would go wild," he answered cautiously.

Damn straight she would.

"Ew," the woman said disdainfully. "What do you think of that, brother?"

Charloss's attention was now fixated with someone else, however, and he was no longer listening to his family members.

"You," he said, pointing at Risha, who trembled violently at his address, "look up."

Risha obeyed, her eyes averted from his face.

"Hm. You're attractive. I like you. I shall bring you back with me and make you my wife."

"W-what?!" stammered Risha.  
Ace was beginning to stir at Risha's exclamation. Bad timing…Spade squeezed her eyes closed, not wanting to see the rest. She could hear his voice, slow and groggy from waking up.

"What's going on?" he said. She could feel him shift on the grass, and immediately knew that he had looked up at their faces, because Shalulia gave a high-pitched shriek.

"How _dare_ you!" she screamed. "You looked up at me! Bow down this instant!"

"Hm. Oh. Shit."

"Shit is right," Marco said, his words only audible to Spade. "We've gotta get out of here."

"You dare curse in front of us?!" Roswald yelled in indignity.

"Uh, no. That was my bad. Sorry."

"The _impudence!_"

"The horror!"

"Take her to be my wife."

"Oh, shut up, brother!" Shalulia said snappishly. "If you want her, you might as well take _her_ too!"

The next thing Spade knew, nails dug into her scalp and pulled her head up. Marco instantly released her, letting Spade look up at the female Noble's face. Charloss was looking in her direction.

"She's not as pretty," he said defensively.

"Take her and be done with it! We're leaving now! And Father, _kill that boy_."

"Hey, missy, it'd be good if you let go of her now," Ace said with a tinge of coldness, his eyes narrowing at the sight of Spade's wincing expression.

"_Kill him_. Charloss, take them both! If you don't want one, I'll make one my maid!"

"You know, for some reason, she looks vaguely familiar," said Roswald slowly. "Perhaps it's her eyes…that's an interesting shade of green. Hm…yes, Charloss, do take her."

"I could do with a few more maids," said Shalulia, agreeing and pulling Spade by the hair.

"I am _not_ going to be your maid," Spade snarled, reaching up and gripping the Noble's wrist, forcing the Noble to let go of her.

"You…you _dare_ speak back to me?! I am one of the Tenryuubito—I _own_ the lives of you commoners! Such impudence will not be tolerated!"

Shalulia raised a hand and slapped Spade's cheek—or, at least tried to. Spade immediately dematerialized, letting her palm pass straight through.

"W-what?" Shalulia said, surprised.

Roswald's eyes widened as he watched the scene.

"You…" he breathed.

"Time to leave," Marco said, straightening up and taking Spade into his arms. He dematerialized, taking Spade along with him against the roaring winds in their ears.

"Let me go, Marco!" she shouted, hearing nothing but the sound of blood rushing past her ears. "I can fly by myself!"

More like she wanted to go back and beat the crap out of them. The mere remark that Roswald deemed her to be familiar infuriated her; if she wasn't familiar, then they all had brains the size of peanuts…she was going to kill them, and kill them well…

"Hell, no, you're not!" Marco yelled. "You'd probably just go back and try to attack them again, you idiot! I _told_ you already, you're s'posed to control yourself! This is all your fault—we'll be lucky if they don't call an Admiral here!"

A flame appeared alongside them, and Ace's head appeared among the dancing warm colors. He had caught up with them easily.

"Where're we going?!" he asked.

"Where's _Risha_?" Spade said scathingly over Marco's ephemeral shoulder, annoyance mixing in with her fury as she found something else to be angry about.

"I think they're too busy looking for us to care about her," said Ace shortly, "—or at least, I hope so."

Marco skidded to a halt at the beach, letting Spade down. Ace materialized beside them both.

"What now?" Ace said.

"You two get back to the ship," said Marco tersely. "I don't think they saw my face very well, so I'll go back to the park to round up the men, hurry up and get supplies, and follow you guys as soon as I can."

The seriousness that seized Ace whenever he was faced with an important dilemma had once again resurfaced. Spade found herself scowling at his bipolarity; the playboy had existed just ten minutes before, and now Ace was looking at Marco with an expression of duty and responsibility.

"Roger," said Ace, nodding.

"And whatever you do, _don't let Spade out of sight_."

"What?!" she exclaimed.

"This's a big deal, Spade! To think that you'd actually provoke an attack when I specifically told ya not to!"

"Whitebeard's pirates shouldn't be so afraid to fight," snapped Spade. "What'd you want me to do, _let_ her drag me off?"

"I wouldn't have minded," remarked Ace coolly.

"Shut up," she said, glaring at him.

"We don't wanna deal with Admirals right now, Spade," Marco said seriously. "Now, I'm going to go. Ace, take 'er back. Fast."

"Sure."

Both of them stood still as Marco disappeared into his strange phoenix form, and only when he was out of sight did Ace bother to speak.

"The old guy seemed to recognize you," commented Ace.

"And?"

"You got a history here, don't you? You said you've been here before, to get those tattoos on your legs, and then you said you hated this place and the Tenryuubito, and now one of them actually recognizes you. What happened?"

"He didn't recognize me," Spade said evenly. "You're imagining things. Let's get back to the ship."

She turned away to walk back towards the boats, but Ace appeared before her, a deep frown embedded on his face.

"Could you just _try_ to stop being so enigmatic?" he demanded. "I'm trying to help you here!"

"I don't _need_ your help, Ace. Especially not from someone who has his arm around every other girl he sees."

"So you're jealous?"

"No. I just hate you. Get out of my way, Ace."

"Why do you _refuse_ to have a decent conversation with me?! Ever since you joined my crew, you've been reclusive, you just don't open up! Why can't you tell that I'm trying to _care_ about you?!"

"And why can't you tell that I. Don't. Need. You. To."

Ace let out an aggravated growl and gripped her shoulders tightly.

"Stop being a complete bitch."

"Stop being a nosy jackass."

Spade's glare was no less intense than Ace's, but for some reason, the way he looked at her made her feel uncomfortable and…was that guilt she was feeling? But she hadn't done anything wrong! Was she actually feeling _bad_ for keeping him away? But it was for the better…better that he didn't know…

"You're feeling guilty," he said quietly.

"No, I'm not."

"I can see it in your eyes. I can read every emotion you feel in your eyes. And right now, you're feeling guilty, uncomfortable, and…oh, annoyed, now."

"Let go of me; I'm leaving."

"I don't want you to."

Spade could've easily melted into her transparent form, could've easily run away as fast as she could. Something, however, kept her rooted to the ground, staring up into Ace's eyes, her neck aching from the effort it took to look at someone half a foot taller than she. Reading her emotions…what bullshit. His onyx eyes were impenetrable. Undecipherable.

Ace pulled her closer and brought a hand under her chin, forcing her to stay in place, and lowered his lips onto hers. She could feel his other arm curl protectively around her waist, encaging her against his chest. His temperature, always hotter than the norm, seemed scorching and almost painful to touch. She wanted to push him away and yet at the same time lose herself in his arms, in the security they connoted…she could no longer think, and no longer move on her own. Ace, sensing that she was not resisting, took advantage of her immobility and deepened the kiss, running his hand through her hair and trailing the other under her shirt. How many seconds, minutes passed, she didn't know…she had forgotten all about Marco and the anger she'd held for the Tenryuubito, forgotten about the fact that she was probably being hunted at the moment and should probably get back to the ship…all she knew was the fact that kissing Ace made her feel _good_, above anything, and she found herself responding, pressing her mouth deeply against his, feeling the shape of his lips and the warmth of his breath…

An abrupt cough jolted Spade out of her momentary weakness, and she immediately detached herself from Ace, looking around for the source of the noise.

"Up here, Skye," a male's voice said.

Spade whirled around and looked up into the branches, her eyes landing on a tall figure that was all too familiar.

"Admiral Aokiji…" she said breathlessly.

"It's been a while," said the Admiral monotonously, eyes flickering between her and Ace. "You actually found a guy who could stand you? You beat the crap outta everyone back—"

"Shut up," she flared. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

Aokiji raised an eyebrow.

"The Tenryuubito are on their little stroll, and I'm here as a tagalong. Just for fun, y'know. Who would've thought I would've run into you? This must be my lucky day, catching the Ace of Spades."

Ace stiffened by her side at the sound of their title.

"To think that an Admiral would deem us worthy of his time," he smirked. "We're honored."

"Hm. Impertinent boy. Do you have any idea whom you've teamed up with?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Hm. No, I don't think you do. Skye, have you told him about your…previous occupation?"

"Yeah, I was a damn good bartender," she snarled. "You going to fight, Admiral, or are you just here for a chat?"

"The former. But do you really think you can beat me, Skye? Wind never wins against ice. You've never once won against me."

"Alone," said Ace sharply. "But I'm fire, and that melts ice. If we can't beat you—"

"—we can sure as hell get away," Spade finished.

"Oh, how quaint," scoffed Aokiji, his eyes narrowing. "Now you're finishing each other's sentences. Well, I _am_ bored, so I suppose a little two on one shouldn't be too uninteresting. Now then, the two of you…"

Aokiji slid to the ground, causing the surface under his feet to immediately freeze. A faint smile played at his lips.

"Come."

* * *

**Free Talk**:

I'm so sorry!!! I got, what, fourteen reviews??! That's amazing! And I haven't updated in so long...well, it's been like...a week, but considering my normal updating status, (which was seriously like once every three days =.=), it's been a while for me. So I'm sorry for keeping you waiting! And I'm also sorry that this chapter is a bit short...school is a pain in the butt and takes up so much of my time. I haven't been able to type for ages.

I'm probably going to end this little Shabondy Archipelago arc rather quickly and without exposing too much of Spade's past. I hope it's not really obvious what her relationship with the Tenryuubito is, though if you can guess, sorry for making it so blatantly obvious. I _am_ planning for her and Ace just to finally get together already, though exactly how, I'm not quite sure. It'll probably be in the upcoming chapter or so though...

And yes, I did change my username because it's _really_ old and I left this account untouched for three years, so I figured I might as well change it into something different. I hope you guys didn't get confused...I think a lot of you have this StoryAlerted/Favorited, so that might help with navigation. For those of you that didn't, sorry for the confusion.

Damn, I seem to be apologizing a lot.

Well, then, please review!! That'd be awesome. Until next time~

-jenni-


	10. Trusting Weakness

**Chapter 10: Trusting Weakness**

Spade sat alone on the Going Merry, her legs propped up against the wall and her back laying on the smooth floor of the deck. Her emerald eyes were watching the passing clouds lazily. Luffy and the rest had decided that they would go back and see the old man whom they'd helped off the stilts. Spade, apathetic to his plight, had decided to refrain from going and instead took a break.

The Strawhat crew had certainly progressed by quite a lot. The latest adventure on Skypiea had been thrilling and rather enlightening. Eneru had been a Logia type, something that Spade didn't see everyday, and he hadn't exactly been a pushover, not that Spade had bothered to fight him one on one. Wind and lightning couldn't really do much to each other. Luffy, however, had gotten much stronger through the encounter. Perhaps the crew could do well in the Grand Line…

There was a sudden commotion from outside the ship; Spade could hear Chopper yelling instructions, and Usopp yelling back. She peered over the edge of the ship.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Ava, this is bad!" said Chopper frantically. "Robin, she got frozen!"

Without another word, they bolted past Spade, carrying something that looked like a block of ice towards the restroom. Spade followed them quickly.

"What the hell happened?!" she demanded as they laid Robin's frozen figure in the tub and as Spade turned on the showerhead.

"The Supreme Admiral," Chopper managed to say as he took a bucket and splashed the water over Robin's profile. "He came and—"

"_Supreme Admiral?! Aokiji?!_"

"Y-yeah, I think that was his name…"

"Where's Luffy!?"

"He's back there, fighting him, but Ava, you can't leave, you can't beat him—"

Spade dashed out the door, dematerializing into the wind and racing towards the direction of the coldness she could feel through the wind. She saw see Zoro and Sanji run back to the ship, their arms frozen, but she did not pause to greet them. Time was of the essence; there was no way Luffy could stand up to Aokiji. There was no way _she_ could stand up to her former teacher, but she needed to get Luffy out of there, and fast.

She skidded to a halt in front of the scene. Luffy was completely frozen over, like Robin, and Aokiji was paused calmly in front of him. The Admiral looked up to see the newcomer, his eyes flickering in surprise.

"Skye," he greeted without emotion. "It's been a while."

"How…" the question she had died in her throat. Luffy needed to be thawed immediately. She could taste the presences of Zoro and Sanji running back to them. They would have to take Luffy back.

"So you've joined them as well," said Aokiji serenely. "I was wondering what happened to you over the last year…ever since you left that Ace kid, right?"

"What do you want?" she asked breathlessly,

"I wanted to eliminate this crew before they became a threat," replied Aokiji. "Not to mention that it has Nico Robin…and now, you as well. But I hadn't heard about you joining them, or I would've come after you all sooner…you've been keeping a low profile?"

Zoro and Sanji arrived, stopping at the sight of Spade and Aokiji, neither of them moving.

"Ava?" Sanji said hesitatingly.

"Get Luffy back to the ship and thaw him immediately," she said. "I'll catch up in a moment."

"Spade, there's no way you can beat this guy," urged Zoro. "Get back with us."

"And then he'll just follow us, right? Don't worry," she said reassuringly, shifting her weight on her feet and preparing her stance. "I have a general grasp of his weak points. I'll catch up."

Sanji opened his mouth to argue, but Zoro simply nudged him in the chest and gestured for them to pick up Luffy. Before they disappeared from sight, however, Aokiji spoke up.

"Why is it that all the people you join never know who you really are?"

Zoro stopped and turned around, listening raptly.

"Go back to the ship," said Spade sharply.

"Are you afraid to let them know? Afraid that you'll lose their trust?"

"Let us know what?" demanded Zoro.

"C'mon, let's get Luffy back," Sanji said anxiously. "Ava'll tell us later."

"No, she won't," Zoro said angrily. "She hasn't told us a thing since we began this trip, and—"

"If you're more worried about finding out who I am instead of the life of your captain, then by all means, stay," said Spade coldly. "If not, hurry up and leave."

Zoro did not move. "Who are you, really?"

Aokiji smiled as he answered in her place.

"Ava Skye Spade. User of the Kaze Kaze no Mi. Ex-Vice Admiral, wanted for murder and betrayal of the Marines. She's my former student."

* * * * * *

Shabondy Archipelago.

Ace and Spade were being pressured, that much was obvious.

Aokiji was well rounded in battle, having incredibly strong offense and equally impenetrable defense. Spade, at an elemental disadvantage, relied mainly on her speed to get her through.

She appeared behind the admiral, her leg swinging down towards his head. He dodged easily, letting Spade's foot crash down into the ground, causing an upheaval of earth.

"Seems like you still can't control that ability of yours very well," Aokiji remarked as he countered one of her wind blasts. She was forced to duck in order to avoid an icicle whizzing towards her head. Not bothering to reply Aokiji's jibe, Spade melted into her ephemeral form and appeared right in front of him, kicking her right leg up. She caught Aokiji's chin, causing it shatter; he had simply transformed into ice.

"Close one," he commented.

Spade dodged out of the way as Ace came crashing down directly above them, his body ablaze. She backed against a tree trunk, watching the scene with narrowed eyes. Ace bounced out of the collision and appeared at her side, his facial expression serious. Neither of them moved.

"Ow…" said Aokiji, materializing out of ice. "That hurt, kiddo."

"Damn," cursed Ace, his eyes searching for another route of attack.

"I'll take the front," said Spade, dematerializing again.

The power from the tattoos in her legs was hard to control. Even after having it for so long, Spade had never gotten the hang of using it, causing her movements when she did to be jerky and sudden. When she aimed a kick at Aokiji's head again, he simply caught it in his hand, freezing it in the process.

"You've been caught," he said.

Spade gritted her teeth at the pain in her leg, flexing her digits as she attempted to ignore it.

"Tatsumaki."

The tornado erupted from her finger tips, blowing directly into Aokiji's chest. The ice splintered around her, cutting her cheeks. Spade scowled. Attacking the man got her injured instead…but the distraction she posed for Aokiji was enough for Ace to sneak behind him, unnoticed, and throw out a fire bullet. It passed through Aokiji and headed towards Spade, who dodged it and used the opportunity to crash her frozen leg down on Aokiji's face. The ice chipped off her leg, but she hadn't injured him—Ace whirled in front of her, pulling her out of the way of an icicle—he threw a blast of fire at Aokiji, and there was smoke.

"Let's make a run for it," suggested Spade, wincing as Ace put her down on her feet.

"Your leg's injured?"

"I think it's numb," she answered, eyes watching past the smoke, "but if you hold on to me, I think we can get back to the ship."

"You think I'll just let you get away like that?" Aokiji's voice said above them.

Spade reacted instinctively, grabbing Ace by the waist and kicking off the ground, her speed ability activated rather awkwardly. She gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the pain and instead concentrating on the mounds of ice quickly chasing after them. She accelerated, leaving Aokiji's attacks behind, and sped all the way to the ship, landing ungracefully, causing the floorboards of the deck to crack.

"There you are!" said Marco angrily, rushing over to them. "Spade, we're setting sail—_now_. Get the winds."

Spade obliged, pushing the Moby Dick far out into the ocean, wary of Aokiji's pursuit. She was not wrong for being cautious—before they got into the middle of the sea, she could see the surface of the water behind them freeze over. Only when she deemed that they were far enough from the Archipelago did she finally calm the winds down.

"Thanks," said Marco wearily. "Sorry about bein' snappy earlier…you guys a'ight?"

"No, we're not," said Ace tersely, "I need the first-aid kit."

"You guys get in a fight?" said Marco, tossing over the box. "With who?"

"Admiral Aokiji. And it turns out that this little missy actually knows him personally."

"Seriously?!" said Marco, impressed. "What happened?"

"Nothing serious," replied Spade coolly. "We just ran away."

Ace gave a sigh. "Sit down, Skye—I'm going to bandage your leg."

"I'm fine," she answered, seeking to find some time alone. She did not want to be left with Ace again. This was twice now that she had lost control over herself; if it continued, it could spiral out of control.

Ace obviously thought differently, as he caught onto her shoulder and pulled her back to him, guiding her towards her room. She could see Marco eying them through the corner of her vision, but before she had a chance to indignantly protest, Ace slammed the door behind her.

"Sit down," he said curtly, setting the box on a table and opening it. When she didn't make a movement to obey, he glared at her and pushed her down on the bed himself. "There's no need to make my life any more difficult than it already is, Skye. Just listen to what I tell you, why don't you?"

"I'll do it myself," she said shortly, leaning over to get the bandages from his hands. He slapped her outstretched arm away.

"I got it. Just shut up and sit there."

Ace sat down across from her and leaned down, grabbing her injured leg and propping it on his lap. Spade immediately blushed, causing Ace to raise an eyebrow.

"You're so sensitive to touch," he remarked, rubbing her leg down and warming it up. "Almost makes me think that you shouldn't be a pirate, livin' in all the dirt and crap that we do."

"I'm not sensitive…I'm fine with those kinds of conditions," she answered.

"So why'd you blush?"

"You…just caught me off guard," she said brusquely.

"So you'll blush if any guy touches you as long as you're 'off guard?'"

"What're you trying to suggest?!"

"I'm trying to find an answer."

"To what?"

He paused for a moment as he wound a stream of clean bandages around her calf.

"To what?" repeated Spade warily.

"Skye, I want you to answer. Honestly."

"What is it?" she said irritatingly.

"…Have you fallen for me?"

She stared at him.

"_What_?"

"You can't pretend that there isn't something going on," he continued calmly. "I've kissed you—twice, now—and you've reacted both times. It's been a few months since I'd first met you—there's been time for your emotions to develops. Honestly…I think you have."

For once in her lifetime, Spade did not feel the urgent need to lash out in acerbic words. She could not deny that she had been debating the question herself for a while, ever since they'd landed on Whitebeard's ship. But she did not want to answer the question, because she still did not know the answer. She, however, knew very well what she _wished_ her answer to be—no.

"Why don't we lay my emotions aside and turn to you," she suggested lightly, taking the two ends of the bandage into her own hands and tying them into a neat bow. "What about you?"

Ace looked taken back with her question.

"I…" he said falteringly.

"You should understand why I don't want to answer this question," said Spade, taking her leg out of Ace's grasp and setting it on the ground. She stood up gingerly with a sigh. "Passing over your notorious reputation, there resides the fact that you're younger than me, and that I'm supposed to be a temporary part in your life, and—"

Ace stood up and slammed his arm out in front of her against the wall, blocking her way.

"Why temporary?" he demanded. "Why do you refuse to give me answers? Skye, every time I try to get closer to you, you brush me off, you try to disappear. There're so many questions that I want answered, but I'll let them all go—just answer: are you in love with me?"

Spade's emerald eyes looked away from his onyx ones; she wanted to get away. Ace, however, grabbed onto her arm and gripped it tightly.

"Answer the damn question."

"Even if I say I am, or that I'm not, what will it do to you?" she said. "You're still going to go flirting with every girl you see, right? It won't change anything, Ace, so why don't we just leave things the way they are, seeing as they can't last long to begin with—"

He pulled her to him, pressing her to his chest in his embrace as he glided his lips onto hers, one of his hands wrapping in her hair and the other around her waist. The suddenness of the kiss caught her by surprise, and she was left with hardly any breath by the time he stopped for a moment, but could hardly recover properly before he continued kissing her.

Something strange overcame Spade's state of mind, and all her self-control and practicality left her as she pressed herself harder against his strong chest, her arms garlanding his neck like a wreath as she responded fervently. There was no sense of stopping, no debate on whether or not she actually enjoyed what was happening—it was completely, utterly true that she had fallen for him, for this playboy that she swore she hated…

Ace was the one who broke of the kiss first, but he did not lean away, instead keeping his face unbearably close to hers.

"Your answer?" he said huskily, his hand brushing her cheek gently.

It came as a breath, very quietly and almost unwillingly.

"Yes."

Ace grinned before closing over her lips again.

"Good choice."

* * * * * *

It took an hour or so for all the chaos to die down on the Going Merry. Only when Robin and Luffy's hearts had restarted beating did the entire crew relax. Zoro glanced around on the ship anxiously, looking for the pair of green eyes and familiar silhouette that still remained absent.

"She's not back yet, is she?" asked Sanji, lighting a cigarette. "It's been a bit too long. Should we go check?"

"…Should we even be worried?" the first mate restated. "You heard the guy—she was a Marine! And she killed someone!"

"So?" shot Sanji at him. "You were a pirate hunter, and look where you are now! First mate of this crew! As for the murder…that…I'm sure Ava has a reason."

"That she's not going to tell us," Zoro said with narrowed eyes. "Here she comes."

Spade landed in front of the two of them, her landing ungraceful and causing a dent in the middle of the deck.

"Damn," she cursed. "Still can't land properly."

"You hurt, Ava?" inquired Sanji.

"No, but neither was he," she growled, dusting herself off. "Damn, years of training and I can't put a scratch on that man…"

"Care to explain everything?" said Zoro a tad angrily.

"What do you want to know?" she asked. "If I really did kill someone? 'Cause it's 'yes,' I did. Want to know who? I would tell you, but you don't know him. I had my reasons though."

"And care to tell us that?"

"It was for my personal sense of justice," she replied. "Are Luffy and Robin all right?"

"They'll be fine," said Sanji. "Ava…we—"

"If you want me to leave, that's fine," Spade said, closing her eyes. "I know I've been a bit too secretive, but it's really for your own good, seeing as if I did tell you everything, my name would've been publicized a long time ago, and Aokiji would've come after us sooner."

"So he really was your teacher?" Zoro said.

"Yeah, and so he feels like it's his personal duty to come arrest me. O'course, I forgot that Robin and him have a history…really threw me off…"

"Spade, you've got to trust us," the swordsman said. "Hiding out like this…it's not going to help your situation any."

"I made the deal with Luffy—you take what you get. Believe me, I have the best interests of this group at heart, and that includes me leaving if I deem it proper. As of now, I don't think it's necessary, but if you _want_ me to leave, I'll do that as well."

"We don't want you to leave," said Sanji quickly. "But we do want you to trust us more."

"I do, all right? It's for your own good."

Sanji threw up his hands exasperatedly and turned to Zoro, obviously signaling that there was no point in continuing the conversation. Zoro dropped it, but his gaze never left Spade's profile. Her expression was darker than normal…something was wrong.

******************

"Murder?"

Spade looked up at the sound of Robin's voice, scowling as the archaeologist joined her on the top deck.

"You're fine enough to be walking around already?" the bartender asked, swirling the liquid contents of her martini glass around in her hand.

"Just a bit colder than normal," said Robin with a shrug. "But other than that, I think I'm fine. Mind making me a drink as well?"

Spade flipped open the floorboards and withdrew two bottles.

"You heard from the others, then?" she said evenly as she handed the glass of alcohol to Robin.

"Yeah, and I'd like to know who you killed."

"You'd be happy to hear that I got him."

"Who?"

"Spandyne of CP9. Does that ring a bell?"

Robin's dark eyes widened.

"Hell…you _killed_ him?!"

"Almost got his son too, before Aokiji popped in like the nosy bastard he is…but yeah, I'm on the run for that. I suppose it's bad for your revenge plan that I got him, but it was worth it."

"What in the world did you do it for?"

Spade sat in the silence for a moment, simply sipping her drink.

"There's something about the World Government that I no longer trust. There is corruption among the Marines…the way they persecute pirates is so arbitrary…"

"So you became one."

"I didn't intend on it, but yes, it happened."

"Spade…"

"Don't plan anything stupid, Robin," said Spade, standing up and dumping the contents of her drink overboard. "These guys seem to like you a lot. After years of running around, you shouldn't do anything to betray their trust."

"…Does that mean you will, Ava Spade?"

"…No," Spade said after a pause. "But there may be a time when I'll have to leave."

"And when will that be?"

"I don't know. But I've been thinking about Ace lately…and something just gives me a bad feeling about the future."

"…You mean that man from Java Island."

"Blackbeard…but I'm just worrying too much. Ace won't lose."

"…You sure?"

"…I'm just trying to be."

The silence settled down over the two of them; Spade looked up at the sky.

"Stop eavesdropping, Roronoa Zoro," she called. "It's rude."

"Tsk." The bulky swordsman walked out of the shadows. "You gave up the answers even though you knew I was here?"

"A display of my trust," said Spade coolly. "Happy, now?"

"Tch."

Spade walked past him, her stride wide and confident.

"You get what I give, Roronoa," she said coldly. "No need to pry about any longer."

She left the two crewmates on deck, sneaking back into the dormitories where Luffy was snoring loudly. She slumped down onto the ground, her hands gripping her ankles.

It hurt to walk or stand up for an extended period of time. Aokiji seemed to have dislocated the artificial bones in her legs. She gritted her teeth. Damn that man…even after all these years, she was still as weak as ever. Weaker than Aokiji, but even worse, weak to the memories of Ace that constantly replayed in her head.

* * *

**Free Talk**:

Sorry that I haven't updated in a while...I've been busy. :( And I've started to develop a Writer's Block against this one...ugh. I just wish that the whole Ace arc would just hurry up and finish because I really want it to just...be over. And Ace better not die. Well, of course he won't--it's One Piece, no one ever dies.

So I have no idea how Spandyne really died. Is he even dead? Oh well, for the sake of this story, he's dead, and Spade killed him. xD

Oh, and btw, I've had a couple people complain that Spade is immature, but seriously guys: please remember that there's a difference in her personality from when she's with Ace (3 years ago) compared to when she's with Robin and the others. And if you think she's Mary-Sue...well, I can't really do anything about that. I honestly don't think she is, but I suppose that's just a matter of opinion...

So please read and review! Thanks! :)

Love, -m.n.-


	11. Casino Alert

**Chapter 11: Casino Alert**

"…Ava, are you okay?" inquired Luffy.

Spade, leaning heavily on the railing of the Going Merry, turned to face the captain.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why d'you ask?"

"…It looks like you're limping a bit," he said. "Something happen with your legs?"

"…I might've hurt them a bit yesterday. It's not a big deal though."

"It is a big deal!" Luffy insisted. "Let Chopper take a look at them."

"I'm fine…"

"Just do it."

Spade gave a sigh and went to the doctor, who beckoned for her to sit down. She slid her boots off her feet and propped her legs in front of him.

"What's up with these tattoos?" said Chopper, examining her feet.

"I've had them for a while. Don't worry about them."

Chopper placed his hoof-like hands on her legs, squeezing them at certain points and checking their function. A few moments of examination passed, and his little eyes widened in surprise.

"These…your bones aren't really…bones! They're too heavy, and they're not dense enough…"

"Keep your voice down," said Spade. "I know. I had an accident when I was little, and the bones below my knees were completely shattered beyond. I went to a doctor and he managed to give me artificial ones in their place…the tattoos were made to cover up the scars from the surgery. They work fine, but I think that when I was fighting Aokiji, they dislocated or something. Do you think you can pop them back in place?"

"I…I can try." Chopper prodded her ankles. There was a loud snap, and Spade felt a jolt of pain shoot up her right leg. She gritted her teeth, wincing, waiting for the pain to pass.

"Sorry!" said Chopper, panicky. "Did I do something wrong?! I'm so sorry!"

Spade moved her right foot around in a circle, testing its function.

"I think it's okay," she said. "I think you fixed it. Good, now for the other one. You know how to do it, right?"

"I…I think so."

Another snap, and Spade laid on the ground, panting, waiting for the pain to stop.

"Are you okay?!" asked Chopper frenetically.

"I'm good," she said, waving away his anxiety. "Just hurts to put them back in place…"

A shadow passed over her; Zoro stood above her, looking down.

"Need something, first-mate?" she said.

"Just checking to see if something was wrong."

"Would you be happy if there was?"

"Shut it, Spade."

She sat up and brushed her bangs out of her face. They were getting long.

"Thanks, Chopper," she said, standing up and testing her weight on her legs. They seemed to be all right.

"I'm fine, thanks for caring," she said coolly to Zoro. "We're almost at Water Seven; you should go take the sails."

"Hey, if you're going to be angry because I found out a bit of your past, let me remind you that you were the one who told me it indirectly."

"I'm not angry, I just wish you would stop following me around."

"I was just checking to see if you were okay!"

"I appreciate that," she said sincerely, fitting her hat over her head. "So I'm fine. Let's get this ship moving faster, shall we?"

She left Zoro looking back at her, a mystified expression on his face.

* * * * * *

Spade walked out of the room calmly, heading out for breakfast. It'd been a month since the Shabondy Archipelago incident, an entire month since she'd admitted that she'd fallen for Ace…

Marco snuck up beside her and gave her his customary greeting of ruffling her hair.

"Mornin', Spade."

"Morning, Marco," she yawned, brushing off his hand and trying to straighten out her long hair. "Do stop doing that every time you see me; my hair gets tangled really easily."

"Nah, it's just tangled the moment you roll outta bed with Ace."

Spade whirled around and aimed a punch at his face, not surprised when he caught it easily, grinning.

"Touch a nerve?" he said.

"Stop it with your innuendos," she snapped.

"What, it's not true? You two are sleepin' in the same room now, aren't ya? And with a personality like Ace's, there's no way you guys haven't done anything for a month."

"Actually, there is," Ace said from behind her. He leaned forward and plucked Spade's wrist out of Marco's grip. "Skye's such a jerk; if I try to touch her, she sends me flying."

"Ha, I guess that's not all that surprising…"

"Why don't you two just loiter here while I get breakfast?" she said shortly. "I'm hungry and in a bad mood."

"Rolled out of the wrong side of bed this mornin'?" said Marco.

"Nah, she rolled out onto me," Ace corrected.

"Shut up, the both of you," said Spade coldly, "before I throw you overboard."

Thatch came running up to the three of them.

"Mornin', mates," he said breezily. "Spade, ya gotta meet with the old man after breakfast."

"Again?" said Ace quizzically. "What for?"

"Turns out we're landin' on another island in a few hours, and it's famous for its casinos and wine. Pretty high-class place. Whitebeard's got a few instructions for her."

"I'll go now," she said, eager to get away from Marco and Ace and their stupid conversation.

She stalked away to Whitebeard's cabin, routinely knocking and entering after the gruff "Come in."

"Morning," she said, sitting down in a chair in front of Whitebeard.

"Good ta see you, Skye Spade. Settling down all right?"

"Couldn't be better."

"Heard you're with the Ace kiddo now."

Spade frowned.

"Could we not talk about that? I heard you had some instructions for me."

"Touchy with romance, eh?" chuckled Whitebeard. "Young'uns…but let's get to business. We're landing on the shores of Monte Trisco in a few hours."

"Casinos and wine," remarked Spade, familiar with the name of the island. "Very classy place. Why are we going?"

"I want to raid a casino there that's notorious for its cheating ways and exorbitant prices. Turns out that some o' my crew got cheated there of a good deal o' money."

"How much?"

"Couple hundred million beli."

"Damn."

"Yeah. As ya know, pirates aren't…classy people. Since you were part of the Marines, I suggest you take the lead of the group."

"…Does this mean we're all dressing up and going into a casino?"

"Somethin' like that."

"Seriously?!" she groaned.

"Hey, I thought you liked sophistication."

"Not with a bunch of pirates!"

"Too bad," shrugged Whitebeard. "Choose your platoon, maximum of four people. All males except for you. Your identity's Rhea Porter. I'll give you three hundred mil plus a hundred mil for spending money; win me back six hundred mil and the casino owner."

"What a demand," Spade complained. "How much of the money do I get to keep?"

"Four hundred; split it with the others."

"Deal."

"We'll pick you up in a week. We land in three hours; get ready by then."

******************

"Ace, Marco, and Thatch," said Spade as the three men neared her. "Ready?"

"Why do I have to come…" groaned Ace.

"You're comfortable with leaving Spade with only two guys?" said Thatch.

"Yeah, 'cause she'd beat the shit out of you if you tried to touch her."

"Fine, then go back to the ship and I'll get someone else to come," said Spade testily. "They'd love a hundred million beli."

"Fine, fine," said Ace grudgingly, taking their suitcases and leading them off the dock. "Hurry up, Skye."

"Yeah, yeah."

Ace skipped off ahead, carrying the luggage easily in one hand. Spade rolled her eyes at his feat; three hundred million beli in cash had to be heavy, but showing off was really unnecessary.

"So Whitebeard's already briefed you guys on the scenario, right?" said Spade to Marco and Thatch.

"Yeah, don' worry about our manners, Ms. Porter. We can be chivalrous when we want to."

"You two, I'm not worried about. Him…" Spade said, eyes narrowing as she saw Ace give a flashy smile at a passing group of women, "I find to be hopeless."

They arrived at the hotel, quite a nice one, and made their way to their rooms. Three rooms, all singles. How convenient.

"So Ace and Spade in one, and Marco and I get singles," Thatch said with a meaningful smirk. "Have fun, you two."

"Shut up," flared Spade. "I'm going downstairs and getting another room."

"Hey, it doesn't matter," said Ace, linking an arm around Spade's shoulders. "We can have some fun."

"Screw yourself, Ace."

"The high class Rhea Porter shouldn't have such a crass mouth," Ace said chidingly. "All right, mates, Skye and I will go shopping for clothes while you guys go get the info."

"Why do we do the boring job…"

"You think shopping is fun?"

"When you're picking clothes out for _her_," smirked Marco. "She's gonna throw a fit if you choose anything terribly risqué, Ace."

"I'll be choosing my own clothes, thank you very much," said Spade icily. "See you around, Marco, Thatch."

The two parties separated, Ace steering Spade in the direction that he wanted.

"Big department stores, dresses, furs," he said cheerily. "I'm going to have fun choosin' your outfit."

"I can do that by myself, Ace."

"But what would be the fun in that? You'd probably choose something unrevealing…"

"Fine, you can choose the dress. I'll choose your suit."

Ace paused.

"Can't I just not wear one?"

"They'd throw you out of the casino if you didn't have a shirt on."

They entered a huge store lined with expensive clothing. Ace let go of her shoulder and headed for the women's section while Spade went to the men's.

"Any color you want, Skye?" he called.

"Black."

"Denied."

Spade let out an audible groan and shuffled through the racks of clothes. Men didn't have much variety, so she simply selected three button up shirts, (white, gray, and black), and three suits (two blacks, one white.) in her escorts' relative sizes. She had more choices with ties, picking one red, one blue, and one black. Not very hard.

Without bothering to confer with Ace, whom she knew would complain just because he hated wearing shirts, Spade gave all the clothes to the cashier and paid easily, then headed to the door to wait for Ace.

It took him a little while to come back, his selection already packaged up and hidden from her view. When she raised an eyebrow in question, Ace just gave a mischievous smirk and shook his head.

"You don't get to see it until you try it on, which will be later tonight. I still have to choose out your later outfits, but I'll do that tomorrow. Did ya get our clothes?"

"Yeah, it wasn't very hard. Ace, please tell me you didn't choose something ridiculously scandalous."

"Of course not. Oh, and I'm now friends with the lady that helped me—"

Spade let out an angry hiss.

"—oh stop it, Skye, it's not a big deal. Besides, she told me that her sister runs a hair salon, so we can go there beforehand to get you dolled up."

A bit annoyed, Spade just gave him a curt nod as they went back to the hotel.

"Jeez, Skye, you get jealous so easily…"

"I wonder why," she said sourly.

"It's just a friendship thing."

"Sure," she scoffed as they walked up the stairs to their room. "Like every other woman I've seen you with, that's just a friendship thing."

Ace opened the door rather quickly and shoved her inside the room, closing the door behind him and pressing her tightly against the wall.

"You want me to prove otherwise?" he said.

Spade could feel her cheeks burn as she averted her eyes and did not answer.

"I can assure you that I'm feeling rather…drained that you haven't let me do anything to you for a month," he said calmly. "Hell, I'm sleeping with you but not really _sleeping_ with you. Don't play hard-to-get for a long time, Skye; I'll get tired."

"There shouldn't be a problem if I don't want to be sleeping with you," she snapped. "If there is, then by all means, go and find someone else, because if _sex_ is the only thing that keeps you in a relationship, then there's no point in me being in this one."

She made a movement to escape his grasp, but Ace simply pulled her back against the wall, his dark eyes coming ever closer.

"I'm not rushing things," he said lightly. "I'm just saying, don't get so worked up about every little thing. You'll be stressing over nothing." He kissed her gently on the forehead. "Calm down, dear."

He let her go as there was a brief knock on the door. He walked over to it and opened it, revealing Marco and Thatch.

"We're good to go," Thatch said brightly. "Found out the place: it's called Iris Eye. Pretty spiffy place, if you ask me."

"We can head down there after dinner," said Marco in that easy drawl he always had. "So let's go eat."

"Your clothes," Spade said, tossing over their packages. "Oh, sorry, Thatch, the one with the blue tie's yours."

"Ugh, I hate suits," said Marco in disdain.

"We're not going to wear them until we get to the salon," Ace said.

"Salon?" said Thatch.

"For Skye. She can't go in the casino without makeup or anything."

"As a matter of fact, I can."

"Shut up, Skye. So let's eat, and then head over to the salon, and then to the casino."

"Fine by me," Marco said with a nonchalant shrug. "Let's go."

******************

Ace dangled his feet over the edge of his chair, waiting patiently for Skye to finish dolling up. He was looking forward to it, actually. Too bad he didn't have camera; taking a picture of her looking like a _girl_ would probably be something he could blackmail her with.

He felt Marco and Thatch shift around uncomfortably.

"These suits are hot as hell, aren't they?" he said.

"Damn straight," Marco grumbled. "I'm surprised Spade managed to pick out all our sizes correctly though."

"She's probably been checking us out," Thatch grinned.

"She has _not_," said Ace acidly.

"Well, maybe not us, but definitely you."

"I even doubt that."

"…You guys seriously haven't done anything?" said Marco.

"…Nope."

"What, not even a kiss?" said Thatch in incredulity.

"What? Kissing doesn't count as something though."

"Yeah, it does," said Marco. "Maybe not for you, but definitely for Spade. She seems like the more…reserved type."

"…She doesn't really expect kissing to be something significant, right?"

"You're an idiot, Ace," Marco sighed. "Being a playboy has made you really insensitive."

"Aw, c'mon, it's not like Skye needs my consideration or sensitivity…"

"Lookin' good, Spade," called Thatch.

Ace turned his attention to the figure in front of him. Skye stood only a few feet away from him, her black hair in a perfect bun, her face dolled with makeup that accentuated her green eyes. The dress that Ace had chosen out for her was a tight-fitting dark blue dress, strapless and wrapping tightly around her hips, showing off her long legs. She looked great; better than he had expected. The only problem…

"Yes, Ace, I really don't need your consideration or sensitivity at all," she said with an incredibly ugly look.

"Skye, do stop scowling."

"Sorry, it just seems to be frozen in place when I'm around you," she said icily, turning around and heading for the doorway.

"Oi, did ya say thanks like a good girl?" he said, standing up with Marco and Thatch.

"I don't need you chasing after me for my manners, Ace, seeing as how yours are equally lamentable."

Ace gave a sigh, sensing her anger again.

"You got her pissed, man," said Thatch sympathetically.

Marco was more apathetic to Ace's problem.

"You caused it," he said with a wise shrug. "Better go remedy it."

"What did _I_ do?"

"Said something stupid," he answered simply, striding quickly to catch up with Skye.

"Man, Spade's temper is just way to short for me to deal with…"

"Get used to it, mate," Thatch said. "Besides, you gotta admit…she's lookin' pretty fine tonight."

"Shut up, Thatch."

"Hey, I'm just speakin' the truth, all right?"

Ace didn't reply, his gaze simply following Skye's retreating back, an uneasy feeling growing in his chest as he noticed Marco's tall profile next to her.

* * * * * *

Ace was sitting on top of the roof of a house that overlooked Teach and his crew.

"Hey there, Teach," he called.

Blackbeard turned around, his big face lighting up with a grin.

"Commanduh Ace!" he greeted.

Ace frowned.

"Stop it with the commander crap. Only someone with respect can talk like that."

"Oh, right. So it's jus' Hiken no Ace, then?"

"Right. Looks like you've made a captain of yourself, captain of the Blackbeard Pirates, Marshall D. Teach!"

"Ha, so what brings you here, Ace? I heard you've been searchin' for me!"

"From who?"

"From that woman o' yours, Spade!"

Ace stiffened.

"You met her?" he said.

"Back a while ago. She's gotten pretty."

"She's always been pretty," said Ace defensively.

"Har har, you never said so back on Whitebeard's ship! I always felt a bit sorry for her. She was always pissed off that you were flirtin' wid some other woman."

"This isn't a greeting from an old friend, Teach, so stop it with the small talk," Ace snarled.

"You seen her lately?"

"We're not talkin' about her, Teach," said Ace evenly.

"I wanted her to join my crew," said Teach thoughtfully, ignoring Ace's warning. "But she refused. Y'know what's hilarious? She said she'd kill me and mah crew if I laid a hand on ya. Ha, as if she could!"

"I was always under the impression that she could beat the shit out of you any minute," said Ace coolly.

"Nah, she wished. She underestimated me."

"Let's get this over with, Teach, instead o' reminiscing about Skye. You killed a crewmate on Whitebeard's ship—that's unforgivable."

"Har, it took ya a while to find me! What if I said that I killed Skye Spade as well?!"

Ace's eyes narrowed.

"Stop giving me bullshit."

"I'm gonna be a big name in the pirate world, Ace! Join me on this quest! The first thing I'm gonna do is capture the Strawhat crew that's at Water Seven and turn them into the Marines! And it turns out, Spade's on dat crew, isn't she?"

"You're talking about Luffy, right?" Ace said, ignoring the jibe about Spade.

"Eh? Ya know him?"

"He's my brother; I'm not going to let you lay a hand on him or his crew! As for joining you…" Ace felt a rush of bullets come pelting towards him and simply let them pass. "…not a chance."

"Pity," Blackbeard sighed. "Just for ya, though, I won't hurt Spade all that badly, though I bet it'd be enough just ta hand her over ta the Marines. She's worth a lot."

"What?"

"Yah don't know, Ace? Girl used to be part o' the Marines!"

"I know that."

"Killed a man."

"I know that too."

"Well, I bet you don't know the last bit," guffawed Blackbeard.

"What last bit?" Ace said edgily.

"You sure ya wanna know?"

"Stop beating around the bush, Blackbeard."

Teach's grin widened.

"Spade's gotta history on Shabondy Archipelago. She's a descendant o' one of the Tenryuubito."

* * *

**Free Talk**:

So if you're wondering if Spade's one of the Tenryuubito, she's not. I have no idea if this is actually going to work out, but let's just say that she holds no special status even if she's a "descendant."

It's really interesting juxtaposing Spade and Ace's relationship three years before as opposed to three years after. You can tell they're on rocky roads when it's in the "past," but when you see the way they talk about each other in the "present," it's with a lot of respect and confidence. I don't know if you really care--I just thought I'd throw that out there.

The casino part should be fun. I really like dressing characters up. :P And I want to see the Ace of Spades in action when they gamble, haha. Sorry for the slow update--I've still not recovered from Writer's Block. Also, I decided to not to ZoroXOC at all; it's too difficult to fit in, and I don't think Spade and Zoro get along all that well. No chemistry...though I like Zoro a lot. :)

I hope you liked this chapter! :) You guys are still doing an awesome job reviewing. Keep it up!!

Love, -m.n.-


	12. Reasons to Love

**Chapter 12: Reasons to Love**

"She's _what_?!"

"A descendant o' the Tenryuubito," repeated Teach. "Y'know how they can get as many wives as they want…she's the product of that."

Ace gritted his teeth. It made sense…all those times when she'd stiffen up at the slightest sound of Shabondy Archipelago, Mariejoa, or the Tenryuubito…but Ace had simply assumed it was a history of skirmishes with them, nothing this serious…

"Combined with her Marine history," continued Teach, "Spade's gotta be worth a hell lot. Mah future's assured, Ace!"

"You're not laying a hand on her," Ace growled.

"Yah sure?"

"I'll beat the shit out of you, Teach."

Teach let out a bark of laughter. "Try it!"

Ace raced forward, his mind whirling. It wasn't just Luffy. He desperately needed to protect Spade as well.

The fight on Banaro Island led to events that changed the future of the pirate world, escalating into a full out war between pirates and the Marines. Unbeknownst to Ace and Spade at the time, the fight would not only alter the world as they'd known it, but would also change the way they saw each other forever, for after everything calmed down, both of them would've been stripped completely of their pasts and secrets. The next time they would come face to face would be a crucial one; it would be a time of either complete acceptance or rejection, flaws and all.

* * * * * *

Spade marched into Iris Eye, an expensive looking casino that was easily the most ostentatious one around. Marco was at her side—it almost seemed as if he were her escort instead of Ace. She was annoyed as always at Ace, this time because of that stupid inconsiderate comment that he'd made behind her back. So she really didn't give a damn if Marco looked like her escort—she wouldn't mind at all if he were.

But what made her angriest was the fact that she knew Ace would never treat her the same way he treated all those other girls he flirted with, with that chivalry and kindness that didn't exist when she was around him…he never complimented her, not once. Oh, damn it all, it wasn't her problem—why the hell was she looking for a compliment anyway?!

Marco was eying her apprehensively.

"Spade," he said in that slow drawl of his, "I know that you're annoyed at Ace, but wipe that scowl off your face, would ya? Ya need to look presentable to the boss o' this place."

"Yeah, I get it," she replied, frustrated. "One moment."

She paused momentarily by a roulette machine, closing her green eyes briefly. Concentrate on work…and if it all came down to nothing…think about the hundred million beli…When she opened her eyes, her face was smoothed over, like a mask, and she was emotionless except for a very faint smile. Her identity: Rhea Porter. Sophisticated aristocrat.

"Perfect," grinned Marco. "Now, for me to actually watch my speech…"

"Do you know what the boss looks like?" Spade asked.

"Yeah, but don't worry about finding him—he'll definitely be here to greet you. Turns out that the old man made a few considerable hints here and there about Rhea Porter being obscenely rich; the man will be sure to greet you personally."

Ace and Thatch came straggling in, Ace with a semi-apologetic look on his face.

"Skye," he said, walking over to her, and placing a hand on her shoulder, "I—"

"It's Rhea," she smiled. "You're late, dear."

Ace looked genuinely taken back with her sudden change; she saw him shoot a quizzical glance at Marco, who simply shrugged in return.

"Er, something wrong?" Ace said.

"Of course not," she said, her faint smile still in place. "We're here to make some money, Ace, so do stop looking so stupid and try to actually be useful."

The insult seemed to relax him, strangely enough. He grinned and brought an arm around her waist.

"Very well," he said. "So the boss of this place, eh? Well, shall I just stand up on a table and announce to the world that Rhea Porter is here?"

"I don't think that's necessary," said Thatch. "Looks like he's coming. Rhea, the obese one in the flamboyant red suit."

Spade saw who Thatch was talking about immediately; it wasn't hard to find someone wearing a red suit.

"I say we get acquainted with the boss and learn the tricks of the trade tonight," she suggested. "Then as the week progresses, we earn the money, and on the last night, we kidnap him."

"Whatever you say, ma'am," said Marco politely.

Spade's smile flickered for a moment as she shot him the barest trace of an ugly look.

"I thought I told you not to ever call me that again, Marco," she said, hitching her smile back in place.

"Sorry, my bad. Here he comes."

The plump man approached Spade, his face oily and his lips parted in a gigantic smile.

"Are you by any chance the beautiful Rhea Porter?" he inquired, extending a fat hand. "I'm the owner of this casino, Charles Marthen. Pleased to meet you."

"The pleasure's mine," she said, masking her revulsion as she shook his sweaty hand quickly. "Ah, my escort."

"Ace," he introduced himself, not bothering to choose an alias. "Pleased to meet you."

"Wonderful," beamed Charles. "So I assume you're all here to have a good time?"

"Of course."

"Ah, and may I ask how much you've brought to spend?"

"That's very rude of you to ask," said Spade, "but since I trust you, I'll tell you."

"Forgive my impertinence."

"Three hundred million beli," she said. "Give or take. I'm hoping I've come to the right place to earn some more?"

"O-of course!" said Charles, his eyes as round as coins as he heard the number. "Oh, please, make yourself at home! We have all sorts of machines and games here—over there is poker, then blackjack, and then you could give yourself a shot at the dice, and—"

"We'll be sure to visit all the events tonight," said Ace. "We'll be here all week, so no rush."

"Of course not. Well, then, have fun! I have to go attend to other guests, so…"

"Don't let us detain you," said Spade gently. "We'll take care of ourselves—it's so wonderful to see you work so diligently for the comfort of your guests."

"Such compliments are greatly appreciated; thank you and have a wonderful night!"

Charles disappeared and the smile immediately slid off of Spade's face.

"Disgusting," she shuddered. "It's so obvious that he's just itching to rip us off…"

"Yeah, so we can afford to lose a bit of money tonight and observe the tricks," said Marco. "How about we split up into pairs so we can hit the stations easier?"

"By all means," agreed Spade. "Let's get this over with."

******************

"Ugh," said Skye as they left the casino around three o'clock in the morning. "I'm pooped."

Marco chuckled at her terminology.

"I'm glad you didn't say that in the casino…"

Ace yawned widely, very tired himself. He was walking with Thatch, while Skye was in front with Marco. She hadn't been insulting while they were in the casino, but she hadn't necessarily been kind either, which probably meant that she was still mad. Like Ace had said before…Skye's temper, short and long-lasting, was really too much for him to deal with.

Marco and Spade's pace was much faster than the other two's, so before long, they had disappeared from the street all together.

"Man, they're more energized than I am," yawned Thatch. "Especially Marco…y'know, sometimes I wonder…if Marco likes Spade."

Ace stiffened, suddenly wide awake.

"You don't mean that…he's probably just playin' around," he said unconvincingly.

"Nah, Marco's not like you, Ace. He's much more serious with his relationships…and it's been a while since I've seen 'im treat a girl like that."

"Like what?" said Ace warily.

"I dunno…nicely, I s'pose. He's always been polite, but he seems really at ease around Spade, don't he?"

Ace sped up his pace, anxious to get back to the hotel. He didn't want to leave Marco and Skye along any longer than he had to…especially after hearing Thatch's speculations. Ace himself had been debating it for a while, but had forced himself not to worry about it. After all, Marco wouldn't do something inappropriate, especially when he knew that one of his crewmates was dating the girl of interest…but Ace could not shrug off that feeling of unease.

The two laggards ascended the stairs to their floor. Ace entered the hallway to their rooms and stopped dead.

Skye and Marco were still chatting in the hallway; Skye looked a great deal happier than Ace had ever seen her, especially when he was around her…her genuine smile, something that Ace wasn't used to seeing, lit up her face. Her previous insult was actually true: her scowl was really rooted in place when they were together. Marco leaned down to Skye, his face much closer to hers than it needed to be…was he going to…Ace felt jealousy run white-hot through his veins instantly.

He reacted immediately, running forward and jerking Skye away from Marco. Marco looked amused at the fury in Ace's eyes.

"Took ya long enough," he said.

"Shut up," Ace snarled. "What the hell are you playing at?"

"What do ya mean?" said Marco innocently.

"Seriously," said Skye. "What're you worked up about, Ace?"

"Are you guys idiots?!" he said loudly. "You're obviously flirting in the middle of public, you—"

"We're not flirting," said Skye acidly. "And you're not allowed to get all pissed off about _me_ flirting, thank you very much."

"Good night, you two," said Ace sourly, opening the door to their room and shoving Skye in. He could feel his self-control weaken after the blow from the jealousy he was feeling…damn…and it didn't help that Skye was still dolled up in that body-fitting sexy dress…

Ace closed the door behind him and dropped the key to the ground, grabbing Skye and kissing her passionately. Her green eyes widened in the ray of moonlight that was streaking into the room; every feature seemed heightened by the moon and she seemed…pretty, for once. Ace shut his eyes and continued his kiss, wrapping his arms around her thin body tightly and encaging her in his embrace.

Skye, inexperienced as always, could not deal with kissing for a long period of time. Before long, Ace could feel her draw away for air, but he did not let her. She weakened, her mouth opening more, and he took advantage of it, tasting her mouth with his tongue. He could feel every bit of her mouth, the fullness of her lower lip, the distinct shape of her upper. He wanted to dominate her, he was jealous, damn it, and he wanted her to know that he was without actually saying it aloud.

Ace slid one hand up her leg, causing her to jerk back suddenly. He caught her and pulled her forward to his chest, his hand caressing her smooth thigh. She was uncomfortable, inexperienced, unready for this sort of contact, and Ace knew it. But he didn't care—after a month of being unable to touch her without getting smacked, his self-control had finally toppled down.

"S-stop," Skye gasped, finally pulling out of the kiss. "Damn it, stop, Ace—"

He brought his other hand around her neck and pushed her neck forward, his hand gripping her nape tightly, forcing her to look at him.

"I'm not stopping," he said hoarsely. "Not tonight."

He didn't give her a chance to reply, crushing his lips on hers again, swirling his tongue around hers and causing her to shiver from the action. The hand at her leg glided up and under her dress, dancing over the smooth skin, savoring the feeling of actually getting to touch her. Skye's shivering was growing violent; he could feel her shuddering at the slightest touch.

Ace knew she was going to dematerialize before she did; when she disappeared, he simply melted into flames as well. When she reappeared, he materialized right in front of her, pushing her onto the bed and continuing right where they left off. His lips slinked down her chin and neck; when he heard her begin to protest, he inserted his index and third fingers into her mouth, silencing her. His free hand reached up under Skye's back and began to tug down the zipper of her dress, feeling her bare back. She made a sort of whimpering sound as she felt his hand glide down her spine, and that caused him to go insane; he withdrew his fingers from her mouth and kissed her fervently again, his damp fingers trailing around her neck, burying themselves in her hair. Ace was losing himself, something that he had never done, he was losing control—Skye could do nothing about it because when it came to pure strength, he easily outweighed her; he was the man, she was the woman, he was the winner…

"Stop it," she said again, moving her face aside. "Damn it, Ace! Stop it!"

He ignored her as he sought the taste of her lips again.

"Ace, I'm going to scream," she said, her shaking growing so strong that it was visible. "Stop it, damn it all—" she raised her voice, "Mar—"

Ace slammed the palm of his hand over her mouth, cutting off her sentence.

"Don't call for him," he snarled. "Why the hell do you have to call for him?!" He buried his face by her neck, his grip on her mouth loosening as he curled his hand around her chin. "Damn it…Skye…why does it seem like I can't ever…make you smile like that?"

There was a long stretch of silence as Ace simply held her in his arms, neither of them speaking. Finally…

"Please don't touch me," Skye said shakily.

The request shouldn't have come as a surprise, but it did. The defeated tone of her voice, the fear that was so apparent…Ace felt guilt wash over him; she was scared, so scared of him…

He let go, getting off of her. Skye sat up, shuddering all the while, looking away from him. Another silence.

"Skye—"

"Please don't touch me."

"…I won't."

"Please."

He could see a water droplet slide down Skye's cheek. A tear.

Damn. He had messed up badly this time.

* * * * * *

"Eighty million beli?" said Spade, peering over Robin's sheaf of paper. "Nice. Though they only increased it one million from your last one…"

"Oh well," said Robin. "At least it's higher than yours."

Spade frowned.

"Shut up, mine would be higher of Aokiji actually had done something about it…but he's still keeping me on the down low."

"Seventy-eight million isn't bad at all, Ava!" smiled Luffy.

"Sure, says the three hundred million beli kid…but seriously, Luffy, that's amazing. You're going to be quite the pirate."

"Of course!" he grinned. "I'm going to be the pirate king!"

Zoro walked over to the group of them.

"Oh ho," said Spade sarcastically. "Here comes the one hundred twenty million kiddo."

"Shut up, Spade," he said, sitting down beside her. "You're just jealous."

"Am not. Mine used to be two fifty mil, so I'm not jealous at all."

"Shut up."

Spade smiled, pleased with the group's progress. They had done well, having openly declared war on the World Government…the excitement of being on deck reminded her of the good days, with Ace.

"You're smiling, Spade," said Robin. "Remembering something good?"

"Just thinkin' how I'm actually having fun being a part of this crew," she said. "After a year's worth of, well, bartending, being a pirate again is actually really fun."

"Of course it is!" crowed Luffy. "I bet we're more fun than Whitebeard's ship, right?"

"I dunno about that," said Spade. "But maybe."

Zoro rolled his eyes.

"Of course, we can't compare with _Ace_," he said.

"What?" pouted Luffy. "Of course we can!"

"Not when they were probably kissing every moment they could—"

"Shut up, first mate!" flared Spade. "That is _none_ of your business."

The group laughed at Spade's embarrassment, then engaged in discussion on Luffy's fight with Rob Lucci all over again. It seemed to be a topic that would never grow stale.

Spade's mind wandered at some point in the conversation, and like always, it traveled to Ace. Where was he now, and how was he doing? She couldn't help shake off a feeling of foreboding…but he'd be fine. He was always strong, always stronger than she was, at least. He could take care of himself. After all, he was Portgas D. Ace. Cocky, brash, strong as hell, and, well, now, he was mature. Every characteristic, every flaw…it made Ace into someone ultimately human.

And that was what Spade loved him for.

* * *

**Free Talk**:

Hi everyone!!! Thanks so much for reviewing! I love you guys!

So this chapter is sort of...different? I don't know if you guys liked it or not...so please tell me if you did. It was something that I just sort of...thought up of. Because I guess it seemed appropriate, how I've depicted Ace as a playboy and since Spade is more reserved when it comes to romance, obviously Ace is feeling "drained" as he said so before, and all that frustration had to go somewhere. In addition, there was always that lurking suspicion of Marco...but I don't know if you liked it or not...haha.

I wanted to end it with a bit of confidence though, because the beginning was sort of ominous and the middle was just like "Great, now their relationship's even more shaky than it was before." I wanted a single, solitary statement from Spade, even if it was in her thoughts, that she really did love Ace, and so it also means that everything in the past arc will work out. :)

Please tell me what you think! Review Review Review!!!! I love you all!

Love, -m.n.-


	13. A Bit of the Unforeseen

**Chapter 13: A Bit of the Unforeseen **

"So," grinned Thatch the moment Ace walked out of the bedroom in the morning, "how was it?"

"How was what?" Ace said, though he knew very well what Thatch meant.

"I mean, you guys _had_ to have had sex last night, right?"

"Give me a break, Thatch."

Thatch was about to reply when the door opened again, and Spade walked out. Marco looked at her in surprise.

"Good Lord," he said, startled with her disheveled appearance, "did you sleep at all last night?"

"Of course not," chortled Thatch in response. "Ace probably kept her up all night—"

Spade did not say a word but instead walked straight past them to the door to Marco's room. She pointed to it.

"Open it," she said quietly.

"…What for?" Marco said.

"Just do it."

Marco tossed over his key and looked appraisingly at Ace for an explanation. Ace simply shrugged, black eyes narrowed as Spade opened the door and disappeared into its depths. The smile on Thatch's face was slowly dying, and he exchanged looks with Marco.

"…What's going on?" Marco finally asked. "What did you _do_ last night?"

"Nothing," said Ace gruffly, heading down the stairs.

Ace felt someone pull him back and slam him against the wall. Both Thatch and Marco were looking extremely seriously at him.

"The way I planned it was that you would get a bit jealous," Marco said, "and then you would have enough common sense to be a bit more sensitive and considerate around her. Obviously, that didn't happen. What went wrong?"

"None of your damn business," snapped Ace.

"Then I'm going straight in there and asking _her_," said Marco coldly.

"Let her sleep."

"What the hell happened?!"

"I went too fast for her liking," Ace said shortly. "She got…pissed."

"…She looked…" Thatch said hesitatingly.

"More depressed than pissed," finished Marco. "More scared, actually, than anything. I'm guessin' neither o' you slept a wink last night?"

"Nope."

"Geez," groaned Thatch. "Bad move on your part, Marco, now our mission's more screwed up than before…"

"My bad, I was trying to get them to actually reconcile," said Marco coolly. "Blame Ace for being an idiot."

"Right, I got that already," said Ace snappishly, annoyed at his crewmates.

"Forget this," said Thatch wearily. "Marco, leave those two _alone_ from now on—"

"She actually _relies_ on me," Marco said hotly, "so if she's going to ask me for help—"

"Too bad," said Thatch wisely. "Leave everything with those two to themselves. We're bystanders. It's the only way for them to work it out." Thatch yawned widely. "No use gettin' tangled up in their love lives. Let's get this mission started."

******************

"Spade," Marco's voice called from outside. "Are you gonna come eat lunch with us?"

She was sleeping in the bed, having finally been able to change into a big T-shirt she'd found in Marco's closet after staying in that suffocating dress all night. Spade did not make a movement to try and open the door; she simply brought the covers under her head as her tiny winds caused the door to unlatch by itself. She heard Marco enter moments later but did not attempt to greet him.

"…You okay?" he asked, walking over to the curtains and drawing them open. "I…"

"Where's Ace?" she said, her voice scratchy after not using it for so long.

"…Downstairs, eating."

"Che," she said, sitting up. "Of course. Act like everything's normal. That's just like him—he doesn't give a _damn_."

"…He sort of told us what happened. I think he's sorry."

Spade snorted. "Sorry. Right. Bullshit."

She stood up and slipped out of the blankets. Marco's shirt was so big on her that it fell well past her hips; he seemed to think it was too risqué, however, because he turned away.

"Sorry," she said without the slightest trace of embarrassment, "I just took something. I'll go get a change of clothes."

"Here," he said, tossing a package over to her. "Get dressed, go eat."

"Whatever."

She took the clothes and drew out the changing screen, hiding behind it and beginning to change.

"What are you going to do about Ace?" she heard him ask as she threw his T-shirt over the screen.

"Nothing," she replied calmly, reaching down into the package and taking out the clothes. "What's there to say?"

Marco didn't reply. Spade finished changing, her outfit consisting of tight-fitting shorts and a blouse that was rather low-cut. She thought she saw his eyes flicker at the sight of her appearance. She ran a hand through her hair as she addressed him.

"Mind being my escort tonight?" she said.

"…I'm not gonna do something like that to Ace, Spade…"

"He deserves it," she answered coldly. "I'm not going to stay around him any longer than I have to—I'm going straight to the front desk and getting another room, I swear."

"Why don't you just give him a chance to apologize—"

"_Apologize_?!" she said furiously, her calmness suddenly disappearing as the tumultuous emotions that had accumulated over the last few hours surfaced. "That man's a freaking sex machine! It's all he thinks about! There's absolutely _nothing_ to apologize about, Marco! I was an idiot to think that there was anything worth seeing in him!"

"He's a _guy_, Spade!" Marco said exasperatedly. "He thinks about stuff like that! Ya can't blame him!"

"You men just excuse each other for shit like that," she snarled, taking a step back. "Yeah, that's why we should just look every rape and every other sexual assault because guys just _think about stuff like that_ and _we shouldn't blame them for it_."

"That's not what I'm saying," said Marco seriously. "Ace might've gotten carried away, but—"

"He's a disgusting—"

"At least he stopped!" interrupted Marco loudly. "The fact that he didn't touch you for the rest of the night, especially when you were _vulnerable_ shows that he actually cared—"

"That's because I freaking _cried_—"

"And yeah, he's a sucker for tears," said Marco acidly. "Give him a break, would ya? I don't approve of the way Ace treats you most of the time—flirting with every other girl that he sees—I think ya got a legit reason to get mad at him. But seriously, sometimes you're just too _uptight_ about things!"

"When I don't want to be _touched_," she said icily, "I expect _not to be_. And just because he's stronger than I am doesn't mean he has any right to lay a hand on me when I don't want him to."

"…That was partially my fault—he got jealous."

Spade gave a vindictive snort. "Jealous? Ha, well good, because now he knows how _I_ feel all the time…all the crap he spewed about me getting jealous, about how everything was just a 'friendship thing.' I don't think I've ever met someone as hypocritical as him."

"Give 'im a break, Spade."

"No."

Marco sighed and blocked her way to the door. She tried to pass him, but his towering figure was indisputably in the way.

"Why are you defending him?" she snarled. "This doesn't concern you."

"You're right," Marco said calmly, "but I want you guys to make up because you'll jeopardize the mission at this rate."

"Don't worry about that," she said coolly. "I'll finish what Whitebeard told me to do. Ace can just stay the hell home and go screw someone."

"Spade…"

"Outta my way, Marco."

"Tch, you're pretty confident despite the fact that you were crying just the night before—"

Spade swung her leg up with full force, not wanting to continue the conversation. Marco simply dematerialized, but it was enough of a distraction for Spade to fly past him and out the door without another word.

She knew very well that the façade of confidence that she was putting up was very breakable. She was still shaken by the night before; the fear that she'd felt had not disappeared completely. For heaven's sake, she hadn't shed a single tear for years.

It was just all Ace's fault. She could not stand him. Jealousy. Ha, like that gave him an excuse for anything.

Spade could hear Marco following her closely as she descended the stairs to the café; she sped up her pace before he got a chance to chastise her further and entered the crowded dining room. Spade inched her way to the bar and finally claimed an empty seat in front of the bartender; Marco appeared by her side silently and sat down as well. Spade gave a sigh.

"You don't need to follow me around—I'm fine," she said.

"Why're you so hard to get along with, Spade?" said Marco with a weary sigh. "I don't blame you for gettin' angry last night, but you really should talk ta Ace a bit."

"Maybe later," she said curtly, though secretly having no intention of doing so. She just wanted Marco to shut up.

"Good," said Marco musingly, "because here he comes now."

Spade did not even bother turning around, instead staring resolutely at the now wide-eyed bartender who was stirring her cocktail. Her heart sank slightly; she didn't want to speak to Ace.

"Hey," she heard Ace say. His voice was quiet and somewhat deflated, not at all like his normal exuberant self.

"'Lo there, Ace."

"Mind if we…"

"By all means."

Marco slipped out of his seat and, with after laying a reassuring hand on Ace's bare shoulder, disappeared into the crowd. Ace took Marco's seat and the two of them sat there in silence; Spade's green eyes were fixated on the bartender.

"You're murdering the ice cube," she said coldly.

The man looked up at her, surprised at her sudden remark.

"The stirring rod is scraping against the ice," she said. "You'll make the drink watery."

The bartender looked highly insulted.

"Then you do it, young lady!"

"By all means," she said coolly, taking the glass and dumping its contents across into a sink.

Ace's eyes were watching her every movement as she poured out the two wines over the large ice block and stirred it smoothly.

"I had almost forgotten that you used to be a barmaid."

"Bartender," she corrected almost automatically, temporarily forgetting that she had planned on giving him the cold shoulder. She regretted her response immediately, and once again lapsed into silence.

Ace studied her fluid movements as she finished stirring and poured the cocktail into her glass, handing the beaker containing the block of ice back to the sour-looking bartender and drinking her self-made martini.

"Last night…"

He paused for a moment, as if expecting a scathing reply from her. When she made none, however, he continued.

"It was uncalled for," he said quietly. "And I know…that…you didn't quite…appreciate it."

Spade could not resist letting out a derisive snort, but it was all she did. She made no attempt to continue the conversation. Ace gave a wry smile at her obstinacy and continued speaking.

"This sort of reminds me of the first time we met. Middle of a bar, I was trying to hit on you and you wouldn't give me the time of day. Always thought you were a bit too hard to deal with for your own good, Spade."

The use of her surname startled her slightly—it was the first tine that Ace had ever used it to address her.

"I've always thought you were…interesting. Always keeping your guard up, never letting me near. And I was glad as hell when we finally started…dating, I guess that's the right word for it…Skye, it's not that I don't like you, I just—"

"Have a slight problem where you enjoy hitting on every other girl you see, a slight problem that causes you to be quite inconsiderate of my feelings and thus say crass things about me and yet somehow causes you to _touch me when I don't want to be fucking touched_. Now, hm, what kind of slight problem is that?" she said with awful sarcasm. "Yes, that's very understandable."

"It's not just me, though," he said a bit hotly, annoyed with her sudden outburst. "I admit it—I'm a bit harsh with you and it was my fault for last night, but sometimes you've got to understand that you can be downright _insufferable_—"

"I never said that I wasn't," she interrupted icily. "I'm very aware of my faults when it comes to personality, Ace, but it seems like I'm able to get along perfectly well with other people like Marco—"

"Don't bring him into this," Ace snarled.

"Marco?" she said with a vindictive smirk. "Jealousy is what he suggested caused you to spiral out of control last night—he was actually siding with _you_, not me—so you should be grateful."

Ace did not answer for a long time.

"Fine," he said grudgingly. "Marco's right—I _was_ jealous, and I got carried away."

Spade very much wanted to lash out with another scathing remark, but the sincerity in Ace's dark eyes made her stop.

"I'm sorry, Skye."

His apology, for some reason, caused the tension that had built up in her system to suddenly deflate, and she found herself unwillingly loosening up towards him.

"Fine," she said tersely. "I'll let it go."

Ace's lips immediately curled into a smile, and he leaned closer to her. She gave him a half-amused, half-exasperated look.

"Just because I said I'd let it go doesn't mean we're all good and ready for—"

"I know, I know," he said, waving her sentence away. "Skye, button up your blouse, would ya? I can see everything."

"And I know you like that."

"Nice as it is, I'd rather not let others see it too."

"Does it really matter?" she said dryly, not bothering to button it up. "I'm not exactly what you would call attractive, Ace."

"And for goodness's sake, wear longer shorts, would you?" he said, completely ignoring her self-deprecating statement. "Guys are just going to be checkin' you out, left and right…"

Spade sighed.

"Y'know, just dressin' like that's like askin' to be attacked," muttered Ace under his breath when he saw that she wasn't going to listen to him. Spade shot him a glare, but he, like always, continued with his rash speaking, undeterred. "Say, jus' wonderin'…I mean, it's not unnatural, reacting that badly, but…I dunno, I thought I sensed a bit more fear from you than I woulda expected."

"You expected me to be fine?" she said frostily.

"No," replied Ace hastily. "I dunno, you always seemed like the stronger type o' girl to me…"

Spade sipped her drink for a moment before answering.

"My mom…" she cleared her throat. "My mom died when I was little. I was…er…a product of an assault, if you get the gist. Well, not quite an assault, but…it was against her will. And she died later on…miserable, desperate…that kind of personality…I didn't want that. I always assumed that it resulted from that incident…so…I don't think this makes any sense…"

"Nah, it does," he said softly. "And again…I'm sorry."

"Forget it," she said, draining the contents of her glass and setting it down on the table. "Pay for me, Ace."

"Yeah, yeah…"

They walked out of the room together. Ace chanced his luck and slinked his arm around her waist; Spade did nothing but scowl at him, but when he turned away from her to talk to his grinning crewmates, a very faint smile crept to her lips. Everything was fine.

******************

_Thriller Bark._

Moria was unconscious. The battle had been won. Spade nearly collapsed onto the rocks that had fallen down around her; it had been a while since her body was _that_ strained from a fight. Even having been asked to join the ranks of the Shichibukai, she still felt the disparity between their strengths. After this fight, Spade had finally confirmed it: Luffy was definitely stronger than she. She was not unduly perturbed by this fact; she had been expecting it, and was actually pleased to realize it.

So the battle was won. They would leave, safe and sound.

Or so they thought.

"…There was another Shichibukai!" Nami said frantically. It was evident that she'd just remembered this important fact.

"What?!"

But a presence from a higher elevation caught Spade's green eyes, and she turned her vision to it. The figure was all too familiar.

"Bartholomew Kuma…" she breathed.

"Skye Spade," he said, his deep voice reverberating like a bass drum. "It has been a while."

"You know this guy?" said Zoro incredulously.

"Bartholomew Kuma, the Tyrant," said Spade. "What are you doing here?"

"I have orders to obliterate everyone on this island," he said calmly. "No one who has witnessed Moria's defeat can live."

"Step back," Zoro said firmly, hand on the hilts of his swords. "I'll take care of this."

"Be careful!" Nami screamed. "This guy can make people disappear just by touching them, and he can teleport—"

Spade did not need to be informed on that, for she was already familiar with Kuma's abilities; not only that, Kuma himself disappeared and reappeared immediately behind them, knocking out a group of the formerly shadow-less pirates in one blow.

"Pirate Hunter Zoro," he said in a slow drawl. "Let's start with you."

"Step back," Spade said, appearing in between the two of them. "He's mine."

"…By all means, let us fight," said Kuma.

"Hang on, Spade," Zoro said angrily.

Spade disappeared into the wind, her speed having increased to greater heights than ever as she pelted towards him as fast as the speed of sound. Her legs materialized a split second before contacting his hard body, their strange ability activated.

The force of the blow was enough to cause Kuma to retreat a few steps.

"I had almost forgotten," he said slowly, unfazed by the blow, "that your legs had been modified to specifically counteract my armor."

"Ha, though I don't remember your armor being that strong before," she said with a wry smirk, hovering in the air. "You let Vegapunk work on you a bit more?"

"Enough with the jibes, Spade."

A bomb-like contraption was growing in Kuma's hands; Spade immediately recognized it to be a huge amount of air pressure condensed into one spot, into the shape of a paw.

"Get down!" she shouted. "It's a bomb!"

But the bomb exploded into the air instantaneously; Spade barely had enough time to dematerialize and let the blast pass through her and avoid being injured. The landscape around her immediately became a sea of rubble; when the smoke cleared, Kuma and she were the only two standing.

"Now that I've knocked everyone out, we can speak a bit more freely," he said calmly.

"I don't need to speak with you," she spat. "The World Government's so interested in the Strawhat Crew now? Sending you to come…"

"It's true, the Strawhat Crew is very important. We should kill the snake before it is hatched, so to speak, while it is still in its egg. I also come bearing personal urgency from Admiral Aokiji; he was the one who informed me that you were on this crew."

Spade's emerald eyes narrowed. "Of course."

"We cannot have you with this crew, Skye Spade. It is high time that you be executed."

"…You'll never be able to catch me, you know it. Especially after the last time—what makes you think that you have any possible chance of ever apprehending me?"

"True, the last time we met should've been the time where I brought you to Impel Down, seeing as Portgas D. Ace should've been my trump card. But never mind the past; I will remedy it now."

Kuma brought up his hands, paw-shaped bombs littering the air in front of him. Spade dematerialized and whizzed forward, her legs once again strengthened by the artificial bones. Vegapunk had specifically designed for her legs to be strong enough to damage the Pacifista's steel, and Spade was going to use it to the best of her advantage.

Her foot connected this time in the center of Kuma's gargantuan body. Spade felt it cave in a bit and knew that she had at least done some damage, for the attack caused Kuma to go stepping more than a few feet back and almost to fall over.

"It seems like your ability has become a bit stronger," he noted, not even out of breath. "Better than last time…though perhaps then, you were distracted with Portgas D. Ace."

"Enough," she snapped.

"…Perhaps you have not heard?"

"Heard what?"

Again, a pause.

"Have you been reading the news lately?"

"Kuma, if you're going to beat around the freaking bush, I'm going to kick you so hard you'll go flying as far as you send people with your damn ability—"

"Portgas D. Ace has been arrested."

Spade's eyes widened and she materialized fully out of shock. Bad mistake. A paw of air pressure went flying into her the instant she was vulnerable, and she flew back into a wall of rubble, connecting with the stone with enormous impact. Her back jarred with unspeakable pain, which, coupled on with her wounds from Moria, exhausted her body to the limits. The shock from the news, however, trumped everything.

"You're lying," she said, coughing as she stood up and regained her balance. Kuma did not make a move to attack her again. "You're _lying_, no Marine was on Ace's tail, and he's not stupid enough to get caught—" She stopped speaking for a moment as a realization dawned on her. "…Marshall D. Teach…Blackbeard…"

"Indeed," nodded Bartholomew Kuma. "Blackbeard has been made the Shichibukai in replacement of Crocodile."

He pointed an accusatory finger at Spade.

"Come with me, Skye Spade, and I will let your crew go." He spoke with the solemn judgment of a higher authority. "It is time. We will execute the Ace of Spades together."

* * *

**Free Talk**:

I know. I'm a horrible person. I've completely neglected you all.

I'M SO SORRY!!!! School has been bad, and I've had standardized testing, PLUS I've been dealing with all these other fics, and I had Writer's Block with this one...but I know, it's inexcusable to not update for almost a month! And I'm truly, utterly, very very sorry. Especially since you all reviewed so wonderfully. :(

Hopefully you liked this chapter though. The past arc will conclude soon, so it will all be in the present in the near future. Oh, and this story could go two ways, but I haven't decided yet:

Spade could get arrested, or she could not. Which one do you think would work best? :)

I know I have no right to say this, but please review! I _promise_ I'll update sooner next time. So review!!!

Love, -m.n.-


	14. Momentary Relapse

**Chapter 14: Momentary Relapse **

"Execute the Ace of Spades?" repeated Spade, a smirk crawling up to her lips. "You think you could?"

Kuma's blank eyes narrowed imperceptibly.

"…Portgas D. Ace is currently being held in Impel Down. It's only a matter of time before you join him."

"Give me a break."

Spade sped up, her legs moving so quickly that they seemed to glow with a silver light as she slammed them into Kuma's face. She bounced away immediately, taking care to keep herself dematerialized as her green eyes flashed with a fury that could not be described.

"You Marines will never kill Ace," she snarled, dodging a paw-shaped blast of air and swirling forward for another attack. "Whitebeard will never settle for it."

"We are prepared for that."

"Shichibukai…traitors of pirates," she said with disgust. "What does Vegapunk give you that you desire so much, Bartholomew Kuma, that you'd betray the entire pirate race?"

"Odd words coming from someone who used to be a Marine and also has Vegapunk's inventions in her legs," remarked Kuma indifferently. "You cannot dodge forever…shall I resort to more unconventional methods to convince you to come along quietly?"

Kuma suddenly disappeared and reappeared immediately by Zoro's unconscious body. He brought a hand up, another paw-blast forming in his palm…

Spade zoomed forward, her body solidifying just as Kuma brought his hand down at Zoro. She was sent slamming into a wall, her arms wrapped tightly around Zoro's waist as she pulled him to safety. Coughing out blood, she opened one emerald eye blearily, checking to see if Zoro was okay. It didn't look like he'd incurred any additional injuries…

"Still the same, Skye Spade," said Kuma quietly. "Always jumping in for a man…is this Pirate-Hunter Zoro a replacement for Hiken no Ace?"

"Don't you dare suggest that," she said in a deadly tone, setting Zoro down onto the ground. "Don't make stupid assumptions, Kuma."

The Shichibukai cleared his throat.

"Allow me to reinstate my conditions. You know that you will lose. You cannot possibly defend all your crewmates and except to remain alive, and the moment you are dead, they will die as well. Come with me, Skye Spade. I will take you to Impel Down. Trade your life for theirs."

Spade stayed silent, knowing the full weight of Kuma's words. She knew very well that what he said was true; there was no way she could run around carrying more than Zoro…

"Come along, Skye Spade," said Kuma seriously. "You don't want a repeat of the past."

* * * * * * *

"Here you go, Whitebeard," said Spade with a vindictive smirk, throwing Charles Marthen on the deck in front of the towering member of the Yonkou. "One large, fat, disgusting pig, ready for execution."

Marthen was positively choking on his tears.

"M-Miss Porter," he stammered, "w-what's the meaning of this?"  
Spade stepped on Marthen's neck viciously, cutting off his circulation. She leaned closer, smirking.

"Miss Porter?" she said mockingly. "Sorry, the name's Spade. Oh, and this—" she pushed harder on his jugular, causing him to gasp in more terror, "—is for trying to feel up on me when I was playing poker."

"And _this_—" A jet of fire flew out from above Spade, singing Marthen's ear. He howled more in fright than in pain. "—is for trying to grope her when she was playin' roulette. I don't appreciate ya hittin' on my woman, Marthen."

"That's enough, both of you" said Whitebeard dryly, though Spade could see the amusement on his face from the way his mustache twitched. "Good work, you four. Got the money, Spade?"

"No problem," she said, waving her hands as the suitcases levitated towards her boss. "I get to keep the rest, right?"

"Split it with your crewmates," said Whitebeard sternly. "I'll take care of Marthen from now."

Spade happily (yes, she was happy—money made a girl happy, now matter how pissy she normally was) walked to an empty part of the deck, followed closely by Marco, Thatch, and Ace.

"You know," she said wryly, "people probably think I'm some…_whore_ because I have three guys following me around…"

"We're not following you," said Marco seriously. "We're following the money."

Spade shot him a joking death glare (there was really no difference in a fake death glare and real death glare when it came to Spade—the effect was always instant recoiling) before setting the extra sets of suitcases on the floor. Before any of the men could make a movement to claim their prizes, she sat on them.

"The hell, Spade?" said Thatch, eyebrows raised.

"Let's talk about this," she said, a dangerous smile creeping to her lips. "Since we filched a bit more than we'd anticipated…let's stick with each of you getting a hundred mil and I get two hundred."

"Says who?" Marco said, not amused.

"I think I should get a little…extra," she grinned, "because after all, who was the one who figured out about the magnetic pulls under the table at the craps table?"

The three men remained silent.

"And how the roulette game was rigged?"

Again, silence.

"And finally, who the hell was the one that got _groped_ by a fat ass and was told to 'deal with it' in order not to blow our cover?"

Silence.

"Me," she concluded for them. "So I think I deserve a little extra."

"You're one demanding chick," muttered Ace.

"I guess that's an okay!" she said brightly. "Now, here's your suitcases…"

"Spade," said Marco lethally.

She met his gaze fearlessly.

"Yes, dear Marco?"

They stared each other for a long moment.

"Fine…" the first division captain complained. "Except you're treating me to lunch the next time we land…"

"Me too," growled Thatch, yanking his suitcase from under Spade, causing her to fall to the ground with a thump.

She glared at him and stood up, stretching. A voice from behind called out.

"Yeh guys are back!"

Spade turned around, green eyes flickering as she saw Marshall Teach approach.

"Hey Teach," greeted Thatch amiably. "What's up?"

"Nothin' much," chortled the much bigger man. "Jus' heard yeh guys were back, thought I'd say hullo." His eyes landed on Spade. "Hullo, Spade."

"Hey," she said with a nod. She was rather curt with the men on deck, excluding Marco, Thatch, Ace, and occasionally Jose. She found it to be more beneficial so she could avoid getting stared at. They only stared at her because she was the only woman who wasn't constantly attending to Whitebeard…

Ace seemed to know this, for he protectively slid a hand around her waist, eyes narrowing at the way Teach seemed to be leering at Spade.

"Well, me and Skye are wiped out," said Ace with a fake yawn. "We'll be leaving now."

"With my money," said Spade, in a much better mood than she'd been in a long time.

The suitcases levitated behind her as the two of them walked back to their cabin.

"Hey, Ace!" called Marshall.

He turned around.

"Yeah?"

"Have ya heard? They want ya to be Second Division Cap'n!"

Ace blinked.

"Seriously? But I'm…rather new."

Teach shrugged. "Not a problem. O'course, if ya don' want it, the lil missy right next ta ya is also a candidate."

"I decline," said Spade automatically. "Though if Ace wants it, I won't mind helping him out a bit."

"Who ever said I needed your help?" said Ace arrogantly.

"Oh, the things that would've happened before if I hadn't been there…" she murmured.

"Sure, sure, whatever," he said, rolling his eyes. "I'll think about it, Teach. For the time being though…I'm gonna go sleep."

"Have fun, you two," grinned Thatch. Marco smirked along.

Spade scowled at her crewmates, knowing their unsaid innuendos, and was steered by Ace toward their room. As he shut the door behind them, Spade dropped the suitcases to the ground with a loud thump.

"Excellent, I have tons of spending money now."

"You're gonna share, aren't ya?"

"In your dreams, Ace."

"Oh…I forgot." Ace reached into his pocket. "I filched these from the casino." He tossed a package at her. She caught it, surprised.

"Thought you'd like them," he grinned. "A little souvenir. Pretty slick deck of cards."

"Hm." She flipped them over in her hand. "Oh, look, the ace of spades is on top," she said. "And an intricate design, at that…"

She traced her finger around the pointed edge of the spade, smiling faintly. What a…pretty design…perhaps she'd get a tattoo like it…

"Say…Skye."

There was a sudden seriousness in his tone that made Spade turn around and face him, her expression perplexed.

"What is it?"

"…I'm not complainin' or anything, but…I keep feelin' like you…let me off a bit easy the other day. You know…about the whole…" his voice faded away.

Spade raised an eyebrow, knowing what he was talking about.

"You _want_ me to stay mad at you?"

"No, that's not it!"

"Good, because then I would've started thinking that you were some masochist or something…"

Ace made a face. "…I just felt it wasn't quite in your personality to just…forgive me so easily, given what could've potentially happened…"

Spade sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"I guess," she said slowly, "part of me just knew that you wouldn't have done it…'cause it's not in your nature…"

A smile flitted to Ace's freckled face.

"You trusted me."

"Oh, do stop it with your strange sentimental notions," she said snappishly. "Damn, I was in such a good mood before you brought it back up…"

Her sentence faded away as Spade felt Ace suddenly grab her from behind, his one of his hands slinking up her shirt.

"Ace!" she said indignantly, flushing at the abrupt contact. "Just because I said it was okay doesn't mean you can just—"

"I don't think I've said this to you before," he said quietly.

His following words were so quiet, so soft that Spade, despite the close proximity between Ace's mouth and Spade's ear, did not hear. All she felt were three short breaths, the sound of whispers, warm, inviting…seductively murmuring the famed, overused, trite three syllables that every girl wanted to hear… She knew very well what he had just said.

His arms around her tightened as Ace buried his face in her neck, kissing it. She brought a hand up to his arms, touching it, feeling the instant heat shoot up her fingertips…this unavoidable chemistry between them, this instantaneous connection between the two…she could feel her heart pounding on her ribs, like a bird fluttering against a cage, as her flush deepened. Her lips were dry; she moistened them with a brush of her tongue, and finally…

"Me too," she said very faintly.

Spade felt him apply more pressure on her waist as he spoke up.

"Say the sentence."

Spade, if possible, grew even redder, her body heating up not only as a result from the contact with Ace's hotter than normal body…she opened her mouth again. Her words came briefly, just before Ace's mouth closed over hers.

Days, weeks, months passed. The Ace of Spades stayed together. And while Ace and Spade were not without problems, they remained the same, constantly bickering yet steadfastly, well…in love, to be ridiculously cliché.

And so two years went by.

******************

_Two years after Spade first met Ace. Whitebeard's Second Division._

"…Skye…"

Spade heard Ace's whispered words by her ear. She did not stir, instead clinging to him tighter as her eyes remained stubbornly shut.

"Skye, if you don't wake up right now, we'll go for round two."

Her jade eyes flitted open, already in their morning death glare mode.

Ace grinned. "Not the look that should be coming from someone who's nearly chokin' me with her embrace."

"I'm sleepy. Shut up."

"…Are you sayin' that you're blamin' your weariness on me?"

"Yes," she said defiantly. "Now shut up, Ace."

She heard him exhale; she jolted back reactively as his hands slid around her bare waist, pulling her closer to him.

"You sure weren't complainin' last night," he said with a smirk as he lifted her onto his chest. "Sure you don't want round two? Or three? Or four?"

"No, thank you," she said, annoyed, slipping out of his hold and rolling off the bed. "I'll get dressed now."

Ace sighed behind her as she withdrew a set of clothes from the closet; she could feel his eyes burning into her back.

"What?" she said irritably, buttoning her shorts.

"Love your tattoo," he mused. "Looks so damn good…"

She'd gotten it sometime around their one-year "anniversary." And of course, Ace had paid for it.

"Thanks," she said, tossing a shirt over her head. "Now you can't gawk at it."

"You could just go out in a bikini top…"

Spade rolled her eyes. "And have Marco _murder_ me for 'disturbin' the peace.' No thank you. Get up, you hypocritical commander. You've got work to do."

Ace blew out another breath and caught the shorts that she threw at him with an easy hand. Spade stared at her reflection in the mirror, grabbing a brush from on top of a shelf and brushing through her long hair.

"I should really cut it…" she groaned, weaving her hair into a braided bun. "It's getting so damn long; annoying to deal with."

"I like it long," commented Ace, buckling his belt and reaching over on a chair for his ostentatiously orange hat. "C'mon, dear, we've got work to do."

"We?" she said indignantly. "No, Ace, _you_ do. This is what's good about bein' the vice commander."

Ace simply chortled as he placed his arm around her, a customary position nowadays, and walked with her out on deck.

"We're so unlucky that Marco's visitin'," said Spade with sigh. "He's gettin' so picky with me about my clothes…"

"_I _should be the one doin' that," said Ace.

"You wouldn't care if she strutted out on deck stark naked," said Marco's voice behind them. "Anythin' to please your eyes, Ace."

The duo turned around. Spade grinned upon seeing her fellow crewmate.

"Please your eyes too, Marco," smirked Ace. "I always knew ya had a thing for Skye…"

"Oh please," said Spade, rolling her eyes. "Marco's like a brother. Hope you slept well?" she added, her question directed towards Marco.

"Good as it comes," he said with a nonchalant shrug. "Old man gave ya a good ship, Ace."

"Pretty nice…you joinin' us for our next stop?" inquired Ace.

"Where would that be?"

"Dunno. Wherever the Log Pose takes us."

"Man, you're one crappy navigator," said Marco, shaking his head.

"I don't navigate—Skye does. She's the one with the funky wind powers, after all."

"They're not 'funky,'" she said shortly. "Do use better adjectives for my amazing skills."

"…Too hard to think of any."

Spade mouthed something obscene, causing Ace to laugh, his grip on her shoulder tightening. Despite her annoyance, Spade smiled very faintly. The last two years had been blissful.

******************

"Land ho!" echoed Marco's booming voice from the second floor. "Speed the winds up, Spade!"

"Sure, sure," she said, cramming the remains of her toast in her mouth as the winds suddenly took off into harsher breezes. The ship moved along at a pleasantly swift speed; Spade's jade eyes scanned the oncoming island.

"And here we go," grinned Ace, appearing beside her. "Drop the anchor, boys, and let's check it out!"

"It's a boring island, Ace," said Spade. "What is it called again? Steel Island? Just mainly used for manufacturing, right?"

"I dunno, you're the girl, you're supposed to know about these things."

She smacked him across the head, unsurprised when her hand simply passed through, her fingers tingling from the heat.

"Do stop it with the stereotypes," she said. "It might help if you were a little smarter, Ace dear."

"You're the one who always says I'm smart," he chuckled, ruffling her hair.

"Only in battle, and half of that is natural instinct," she said aggravatingly. "Marco!"

The first division captain appeared. "Yeah?"

"Ready to depart?" said Spade.

"Yeah…how about we split? I'll take half your men, you take your other, we secure the premises, get any supplies we need, and set off. Steel Island's just known for prosthetics and armor, so we won't have much to do here…"

"See," said Spade pointedly, "Marco knows his facts, which makes him a much more successful man than you are, Ace—"

"Yep, which explains why he don't have a girlfriend yet," Ace smirked.

Marco rolled his eyes.

"Ya know, I always thought that if I'd met Spade first, she would've gone for me," said Marco with feigned thoughtfulness. "Who knows, maybe Spade really likes me more than she likes you, Ace."

"Which is why she's sleeping with _me_—"

"Okay, you immature fools," she said, "drop it. Let's go."

The two parties split up, Ace and Spade with one group, Marco with the other. They were carrying on perfectly fine, buying supplies, Spade buying clothes, and after a few hours, were just about to head back to the ship when Spade caught the sight of something strange in the midst of a cluster of trees. She slowed down and finally stopped, her arms laden with packages as her eyes narrowed, squinting in trying to see what it was.

"Somethin' wrong, sweet?" Ace questioned, stopping as well.

She didn't answer, pursing her lips instead. The figure in the clearing seemed vaguely familiar and rather ominous. Her conscience told her to leave immediately, but she wanted to check.

"You," she said to a crewmate. "Here, take this." She plopped everything into his already-full hands, causing him to stagger a few steps before regaining his balance. "Get back to the ship, I want to check something."

"Skye?" said Ace, alarmed, dropping his stuff and following her as well. "What's wrong?"

"I think…I just saw a Shichibukai," she said. "I just wanted to check."

He caught her by the shoulder and whirled her around.

"Are you crazy?" he said fiercely. "We should _leave_ if we saw someone—you don't want to cause a scene here, Skye."

"I don't want a fight, all I wanted to do was check—"

"Which one?" he asked beadily.

"…Kuma. Bartholomew Kuma."

"Yeah, we're leaving," he hissed, dragging her away. "Not dealin' with him right now, Skye."

"Hang on—I just wanted to know what he was doing this far out in the Grand Line!"

"You are _so_ looking for a fight, aren't you?"

"No," she said defiantly. "I—"

"I thought I heard your dulcet tones," a deep and somber voice said behind them. "It's been a while, Skye Spade."

Spade stiffened, turning around, her lips parting in a snarl as her green eyes flashed.

"And I thought it was your fat profile I saw," she said in a deadly tone. "It hasn't been long enough for me to forget your ugly face, Kuma."

"Tsk," the Shichibukai said, somewhat amused. "Still as feisty as ever. It would've been smarter to avoid me, Spade, like your friend wanted."

Ace scowled at having been degraded to the "friend" status.

"Oi, you," he said, annoyed, "we're just gonna go now—"

"What are you doing here?" demanded Spade, which caused Ace to throw her a nasty look. "Steel Island…is Vegapunk here?"

"Ha, good intuition."

"So he is. Are you getting yourself outfitted again, or are you—"

"Skye, what are you talking about?" said Ace.

"Nothing," she said briskly. "Let's go. I have all the information I need."

"Information?" said Kuma. "Did you perhaps want an upgrade on your legs?"

"Ha," she laughed humorlessly, "I'm not like you, Kuma, I'm fine with my first edition. Let's go, Ace."

"…You need to explain this to me—"

"You don't really think I'm just going to let the Ace of Spades walk away, do you?" said Kuma.

A vein was throbbing in Ace's temple.

"I sure don't like getting interrupted every two minutes," he growled. "Can't I at least finish a sentence?"

"You've finished two now, hon," Spade smirked. "And Kuma…you want to arrest us? I'd like to see you try."

"…I will bring you back to the authorities…"

"You're sure not a pirate," said Ace dryly. "More like a Marine. Turning us in…what do you plan to achieve? There weren't any orders given to you about us, were there?"

"I have orders from Admiral Aokiji to capture Skye Spade if I ever see her. That order still stands."

"Aokiji," said Spade with venomous fondness. "Really? I'm honored."

"You should be…several Shichibukai have been told to follow and capture you, myself included…you know too much, Skye Spade."

"I'm honored," Spade repeated. "Well then…"

She disappeared from Ace's side, her green eyes burning with hatred, as she suddenly appeared above Kuma and slammed her leg down on his face. Her speed was already activated at eighty percent of its capacity, making the blow nothing less than formidable. Her onslaught of offensive attacks did not slow down; she appeared behind Kuma before he had a chance to retaliate and kicked him forward, towards Ace.

"Catch, Ace!" she called.

"Skye!" he shouted, half his body already aflame. "You are one _crazy_ woman!"

"That's why you chose me, right?" she said, almost laughing as he blasted Kuma out of the way with a fireball. "I make life fun. Say—"

Her sentence was cut off as she was forced to dodge a paw-blast from Kuma. The Shichibukai stood up slowly, anger apparent on his normally impassive face.

"This is…intolerable," he said, fury lining his voice.

"Very," said Spade. "Now then…Ace, dear, ready for more?"

"No," he grumbled, "we should settle this quietly like decent people."

His words contradicted his actions; his hands were already gleaming with a roaring flame.

And so the fight ensued.

******************

It seemed like Ace and Spade were winning for a good bit of the time. Kuma could not keep up with his archenemy who had the ability in her legs to penetrate his armor, and Ace was no push-over when it came to offense either.

But luck, fate, the stars, whatever it was, was against the Ace of Spades that day, for it began to rain.

And the moment the rain started falling, Ace and Spade started losing, for neither of them could dematerialize, and Ace could hardly even attack.

The fight dragged on for another half an hour, Spade growing alarmed with the amount of injuries that Ace was starting to accumulate. With the ability in her legs, she had still been able to dodge a few of Kuma's attacks, but Ace, no longer able to dematerialize, was spending more energy than he was used to on defense, and thus had incurred more than a few injuries, of which some were fatal.

Spade gritted her teeth, realizing the need to flee as her own legs started aching from the increased use, as much as she detested the idea, especially since she was the one who'd started the fight first. When Kuma zoomed in front of Ace, she dove forward, grabbing Ace by the shoulders as the bomb sent them flying into a tree.

"Don't protect me," he snapped, knocking her hands away. "Watch yourself."

"You're always like this—why can't I try to protect you? You're at the disadvantage!"

"I don't need you getting hurt for me," he said coolly, bringing a hand up to her lips and wiping away a trail of blood from her lips . "I'll distract him—you get back to the ship and get Marco."

"Or it could be the other way around," she said snappishly, dragging him out of the way of another paw-blast, "and I could stay here while _you_ get Marco, and—_shit—_"

Kuma had compressed the air around them into a miniature explosive and had suddenly thrown it in their direction. It blew apart right in front of them; Spade suddenly felt her body be flipped around, shielded by someone else's arms; they went crashing into the branches. Something pierced through Spade's left arm, and she let out a pained shout.

They finally skidded to a halt, Spade gripping her arm tightly. She opened her eyes, flinching, then widened them as she stared at Ace's bloody face.

"Ace!" she said, forgetting about the pain in her arm and grabbing onto his shoulders. "You…_shit_, you didn't just take the blow all by yourself did you?"

"…'Course, I did…" he said, his breathing labored as he collapsed into her arms. "It's…what the guys do…"

His entire back was splattered in red, covering the tattoo symbolizing his loyalty to Whitebeard. Hands trembling, she wrapped her hands around his neck, breathing quickly as she attempted to hoist him on her back.

"C'mon, Skye…" he said raggedly, "you don't expect…that you could drag me all the way to…the ship, could ya?"

"Shut up," she said, legs shaking violently under his added weight. "This is all my fault—I provoked him—"

"Shut up…"

She could hear Kuma approach them from behind; Spade sped off, her legs a blur as she tried to get back to the ship safely. She could hear the heartbeats pounding in her ears as a wave of guilt washed over her. Kuma wouldn't have attacked had she not stupidly gone up to him and declared war; he wouldn't have attacked had Aokiji not been after _her_, not Ace, for Kuma didn't do anything unless he had orders…

Her body was screaming in agony as she finally saw it in sight. She didn't know if Kuma was still following them but she did not slow down; at long last, she crashed onto the deck, her legs creating a good amount of splintering of wood, and immediately collapsed as unconsciousness claimed her.

******************

"…You're awake," said Marco's deep voice. "I know you are."

Spade's eyes snapped open as she bolted up, breathing harshly. Images ran through her head like a fast-moving record: of Kuma, the rain, a bloodied Ace—Ace!

"Ace!" she said breathlessly. "How is he?"

Marco looked at her seriously.

"Alive," was all his reply consisted of.

Spade let out a long breath.

"You…were rash again, weren't you? Trigger-happy?" he said accusingly. "Like the time on Shabondy Archipelago…you couldn't help but _want _a fight—"

"Not like this," she said shortly. "Not like this…damn rain—"

"Not the rain," said Marco, eyes narrowed, "it was _you_, Spade. You need to learn to control yourself…"

Spade fell silent, knowing the truth in Marco's words.

"Something personal again, wasn't it?" said Marco. "Something Ace wasn't involved in, but you somehow pulled him into it…"

"Stop," she said in a strangled voice. "I know."

She stood up, staggering slightly. Marco caught her by the waist, holding her upright.

"Sometimes, you're stupid," he sighed. "But I know you didn't mean it. I didn't intend to be curt…it's just…"

"I know," she snapped, her mood turning for the worse as pain claimed her body, especially her shoulder, and as her mind began to obsess over the entire incident with guilt. "Let me go. I'm going to go check on Ace."

He nodded slowly, loosening his hold on her. Spade slipped away, instinctively walking to the nearest cabin door and opening it quietly. One look at Ace and Spade flinched. His entire chest was bandaged, his handsome face covered with cuts and bruises. Spade walked over to his bedside, her fingers hovering over Ace's face as she studied it, every contour, every freckle, the places where his eyes strangely crinkled up whenever he smiled or laughed obnoxiously…she felt another pang, this time in her chest, and she knew what she had to do.

Ace never liked Spade protecting him. He was always adamant about the man-woman roles, that it was the male who had to protect the female…as exemplified when they'd met Whitebeard, and just now as well…Spade's lips flickered in a weary smile, worn and pained, as her olive eyes continued to look at her partner's face. Very suddenly, she bent down and placed her lips swiftly on his, savoring his warmth for a brief moment, then straightened up.

She'd protect him, whether he liked it or not. The entire thing was her fault to begin with…and she knew for a fact that the Marines would continue to send the Shichibukai after her…and who knew who it'd be next time…Aokiji, Kuma…anyone…

She would leave.

******************

Spade walked out onto the deck. The sky was cloudy, dark, damp. Marco was at the edge, his tall profile illuminated by the moon that was lingering behind a few clouds.

"Marco."

He turned around.

"Ace sleeping?" he said.

"Yeah."

"Poor guy…knocked out like a light."

She shrugged.

"Whatcha just shruggin' for? Guy just got beat up for you."

"…Weak."

She was the weak one.

Marco's eyes flickered with alarm. "Don't be sayin' somethin' like that. Tried his best. You couldn' do better, y'know."

"Tch. I'm leaving."

Oh, the irony.

"What?!"

"No point staying here any longer. I'm leaving. Taking a spare boat, Marco. Tell the others when I'm gone."

"Hey, whoa, girlie, you can't just _leave_, what about Ace?"

"What about him?"

"C'mon Skye…"

"It's Spade." Because only Ace could call her Skye. "Don't talk to me like you're so familiar."

"It's been two years since you came on this ship…some familiarity's gotta be assumed, y'know? Spade, you can't just leave. That'll kill Ace."

A terribly twisted smirk crept to her lips as she grappled with the ropes of an emergency boat, something she'd never used before.

"He won't die from something that petty. I'm leaving. Tell him when he wakes."

"Skye…"

A pause. Some scuffling, a splash. A boat floated over the edge of the ship.

"See you later, Marco. Learned a lot from you."

"Spade, I'm gonna wake up Ace."

"Let him sleep. Even if you do go, I'll be gone long before you get him outta bed."

"Just wait a moment, Spade. I'll go wake him."

Marco went inside the barracks, leaving Spade alone. She sighed, the veneer of confidence fading. She tossed her bags down onto the boat below her; something fell out of one of them. She recognized and levitated it upwards into her hands. It was the deck of cards that Ace had given to her two years ago…still new and crisp. She'd never played with them.

She drew out the first card of the deck. Ace of spades. The irony. Or was it coincidence?

No use in waiting until Marco came back. No use in another goodbye.

Spade threw the card against the wall, following it with a dagger, nailing the center of the card against the barrack's side. She looked at it for a short moment, her heart suddenly wrought with an intense emotion as she knew that her days as the Spade were over; she felt something wet slide down her cheeks and knew what they were. The door to the barracks opened; Marco was coming out.

Spade jumped over the edge of the ship, landing cleanly for once in the emergency lifeboat, and with an easy push of her winds, sailed quickly out of sight.

No use in goodbyes. They were understood.

* * * * * * *

"…Fine," Spade said quietly. "I'll come with you."

She noticed Kuma relax a bit.

"Good choice. Then come."

Spade sighed and walked over to him when someone held her back by the shoulder.

"And just _what_ do you think you're doing?" growled Zoro by her ear. He was leaning on her shoulder quite heavily.

"Ah, you're awake," she said apathetically. "This entire transition would've been smoother had you stayed unconscious."

"You're not leaving," he said.

"But I am, my good man."

"Stop it!" he snarled. "You have this…_protecting_ people thing, you—"

"Protecting people thing?" she said, astonished. "First-mate, if you have a problem with me dragging you out of the way of impending doom, then—"

"Stop it!" he said again. "Never once…have you actually _relied_ on us, Ava."

Her eyes grew smaller. He was the only one who called her by her surname.

"It's Spade."

"And never once…have you called me by my name. There's no trust in you. Why can't you just let us work with you a bit—"

"Because I don't need your help, _Zoro_," she answered. "Get out of the way, first-mate. You don't want to die here, do you?"

"Hey, you," he said, now addressing Kuma. "If you want to take someone's head, take mine."

"_First-mate_!"

"Why are you so keen on defending Strawhat Luffy?" questioned Kuma. "Don't you have ambition? A goal? If you die here, that is all useless."

"If it's the only way to save the crew, then it's not."

"But it's not the only way—" snapped Spade.

"…Very well. But I have a condition."

Kuma lifted Luffy's unconscious body into the air, bringing a hand to his chest, exuding some sort of bubble from Luffy's still figure.

"What I have taken from him is his pain and fatigue. You will have to take it in his place."

"Don't do it," said Spade sharply. "This is stupid, first-mate, just let me go—"

Kuma flicked a bit of the bubble at Spade, who was caught off guard. A jolt of incredible pain was sent throughout her entire body; she let out a scream, dropping onto her knees as her muscles shrieked in unbelievable hurt…

"Now you see how much even the slightest bit does," said Kuma indifferently. "Are you willing to do this?"

Spade felt Zoro's eyes look at her with a trace of worry, then turn back to Kuma with resolution.

"Just let me decide on the place."

Spade caught Zoro's ankle, her breathing ragged.

"Don't…be an idiot," she said harshly. "You're going to _die_—"

"Ava. You've always been a bit headstrong for your own good," he said with the barest trace of a smirk. "This protecting people thing…looks like I've got it too."

Her consciousness was flickering in and out; she could see Zoro's footsteps fade away into the distance. Moments passed as Spade simply laid there on the ground, not knowing where she was, only feeling the aching pain in her limbs…a pair of feet stopped in front of her.

"Skye Spade," said Kuma's voice.

She didn't not reply. It hurt too much to.

"I will let the crew go this time, as a man of my word. Next time, however…it'll be your sacrifice."

Spade's eyes closed. She didn't need to her the ominous message that Kuma left as a last sentence. She knew it without him saying so. All she needed to know was that they were going to be left alive.

For now.

* * *

**Free Talk**:

WHEW! In return to you guys breaking your record for reviews, I typed an extra long chapter, with the finale of the past arc. :D Happy? Hopefully? Haha, sorry if it seemed a bit rushed.

In case you're wondering, Spade will be arrested. Just not now. At Shabondy though, which is why Kuma said "next time."

I do hope you enjoyed this chapter...:) Please review!!! (And the new chapter of One Piece is out! No Ace though...and WTF, World Government? Gah, I hate Sengoku.)

Review, review, review! :D

Love, -m.n.-


	15. Anxiety

**Chapter 15: Anxiety **

"You're…an idiot," said Spade, staring up at the sky.

Her entire body was incredibly stiff, having had her injuries bandaged during her unconsciousness. Zoro was lying on the ground next to her, his body so wrapped up in bandages that he looked like a mummy.

He smirked. "I don't think I'm as bad as you."

"Tsk. Did it never occur to you that I might not want to stay here with this crew?"

"And go off with the Marines? Not likely, Spade."

Relief coursed through her veins when she heard her surname. Spade closed her eyes, evening out her breathing so that it hurt less to stay conscious.

When she had come to, Kuma was gone. Instead, she was lying on a hard mattress of some sort while Luffy and the others trampled around, singing at the top of their voices and drinking excessively. Spade decided not to partake in the carousing; she was much too tired. Zoro lied beside her, looking worse than she did.

"Next time," she said, exhausted, "let me do what I want. I don't need you breathing down my neck for everything I try to do."

Before she bothered to hear Zoro's reply, she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"We're leaving!" crowed Luffy, bouncing on the balls of his feet as the crew approached the edge of the island to depart. "Oi! Zoro, Ava! Don't overexert yourselves! Especially you, Ava!"

"What do you mean, especially me?" said Spade wryly. "First-mate's got it way worse than I do."

"Because you're a girl," said Zoro seriously.

"Give me a break, sexist."

"You all be careful!" called Lola. "Oh! Namizou! I forgot, since we're sisters, I'll give you this."

Spade watched as the chubby woman ripped a piece off a blank sheet of white paper and handed it to Nami.

"…Er, thank you?" said the navigator, confused. "What is it?"

"You don't know?" said Lola, surprised. "It's a Biblicard. In the New World, if you take your fingernail to a certain shop, they can use it to make it into a sheet of paper. Here." She placed the paper on the palm of her hand. "This is my mama's. See? It moved! It always moves in the direction of its owner."

"Wow!" said Nami excitedly. "That's amazing! Thanks, Lola!"

"Hm…" mused Luffy. "You know…I think I may have one of those."

Nami turned to Luffy, nodding.

"Yeah, from your brother, right?" she said.

Spade stiffened, turning over to Luffy. He was nodding as well, thinking; he then took off his famed straw hat and fumbled around with the ribbon, finally taking out a small sheet of paper.

"Here it is!" he said. "But that's weird…it's burning and getting smaller."

"Let me see that!" exclaimed Lola, snatching it from him and examining it. "This…is certainly a Biblicard, but there's one thing I still haven't told you. This paper represents the life force of it's original owner! This belongs to an important person, right?"

"Yeah," smiled Luffy, obviously still not contemplating the significance of what Lola had just said. "My brother gave it to me."

"I'm sorry to tell you this," said Lola, "but this person's life is vanishing!"

"Excuse me," said Spade, finally intervening. "Could you say that again?"

Lola looked at the green-eyed female, startled with her commanding demeanor, but recovered herself.

"I…it's as I said. This person…he's dying."

"Are you sure?" said Spade sharply. "This…this could be some sort of malfunction, or something…"

Lola shook her head resignedly. "I'm afraid not. This is an extremely accurate form of recording a person's life force…"

Spade nodded her head tersely, then turned around and strode away. She could hear Luffy call after her in inquiry, but she kept walking. She was thinking.

The news that Ace's life force was vanishing meant that Kuma hadn't been lying, much to her dismay. She had initially thought that the Shichibukai had been bluffing, trying to get her to lower her guard (which he had, seeing as he'd managed to slam her into a wall of rocks). But now it couldn't be denied that Ace was in some sort of trouble…she chewed her lower lip. What was she thinking? It wasn't like she could go and save him somehow…hadn't she said that she would give up on Ace, especially after their last encounter? If she'd wanted to keep staying with him, she would've left the Straw Hats a long time ago.

She folded her arms as she leaned against a rock, her green eyes scanning the sea as the wind blew fiercely, tossing her cowboy hat off so that it hung at her neck. Her grip on her arms grew tighter as she continued to think. What did she feel for Ace now?

Well, she didn't hate him, that was one.

And it was more…affectionate than apathetic.

Okay, fine, it wasn't like she could get rid of all the emotions that she felt for him over the course of a year, especially since he'd been her first _everything_, first kiss, first time, first love. Actually, her _only_ everything.

But she couldn't abandon the Straw Hats now, especially if they were going to decide not to go and do something about Ace. Then again, they couldn't. They had no leads. Only Spade had been conscious enough to hear everything that Kuma had told her, and if Zoro had been awake…no, he'd been unconscious.

"…Ava?" said Zoro's voice from behind the rock.

"We leaving?" she said, appearing in view. "Sorry about that, I was just thinking."

"…This about Luffy's brother?"

"Well, it's not like I can completely ignore the fact that Ace's life force is dying away, right?" she said coolly. "I'm a bit concerned."

"You say one thing and do another," muttered Zoro under his breath. "If you were so worried about him, you should've just left with him when he asked you to."

"You shouldn't be complaining," said Spade sharply.

"I'm not. I just think you're lettin' this get to your head. I'm sure anyone who's capable of bein' Luffy's brother can take care of himself just fine."

"I—"

"And again, you have this…crazy protecting people tendency that you should probably stop."

Spade hissed. "If you hate that part of me so much, then I'll just be sure to let you die next time."

"I never said anything about me hating any part of you—"

"Forget it," she snapped, letting her anger and exhaustion get the better of her. "If you're here just to tell me that we're leaving, then let's go already."

Zoro rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed at her antagonistic attitude, but did not pester her any further. Thank goodness, because Spade was in a testy mood. She realized that when it came to Ace, her mood just inevitably turned for the worse.

* * *

Spade was absolutely irritable for the next few days. Even Luffy, who normally talked to Spade regardless of her mood, steered clear of her. Ever since their slight altercation, Zoro wisely stayed out of her way, which was a good thing, since Spade was not to be pushed. Her eyes flashed at the slightest noise or disturbance and she snapped at every little thing. Robin evidently thought it was amusing, for she did nothing but goad Spade over the tiniest details, driving Spade up the wall. The bartender remained reclusive, drinking copiously as she sat alone on the head of the ship. She did not join in the festivities welcoming the new crewmate, Brooke, and was constantly lost in thought.

Eventually, Luffy confronted her.

"Ava," he said, walking up to her as Spade leaned against a pole, swirling a martini glass in her hand as her jade eyes watched the setting sun.

"What?" she said brusquely.

"…What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Want to fish with me?"

"You're not going to find anything," she said curtly as she shook her head briefly. "What do you want, captain?"

"Are you worried about Ace?" asked Luffy, seating himself beside her as he peered at her curiously.

"No," she lied bluntly.

Luffy squinted at her, clearly catching on to her lie. He sighed, taking off his hat and withdrawing the measly slip of paper that supposedly represented Ace's life force.

"It's gettin' smaller," he remarked. "Y'know, I said we weren't gonna do anything about it because I feel like Ace'd get mad if I butted into his fights…but y'know…you could probably say that you…I dunno, wanted to visit him?"

"I don't want to visit him," she said tersely. "The last time we met was supposed to be our last, Luffy, so don't try and make me—"

"I'm not makin' you do anything! Just…suggesting."

Spade looked at him, raising a dubious eyebrow. Luffy simply smiled stupidly at her, like he always did. A smile unwillingly flitted to Spade's lips; it was hard to ignore an idiot like Luffy who could make anyone feel better.

"So you're…suggesting that I take a break from the crew and…go find Ace."

"…If you want?"

"I'm not going to find Ace," said Spade, downing the rest of her drink. "I don't want to meet him right now. However…I'd like to take a short break…and go find Whitebeard."

"Why?"

"It'd be easier to check up on Ace's status that way," answered Spade vaguely.

"Well…okay," shrugged Luffy.

"Just like that?" said Spade wryly. "You're a bit too laidback, cap'n. This is Grand Line. I may never find you again."

"Oh, I'm not worried about that," said Luffy brightly. "I'm gonna be the Pirate King, so if you just stick with Whitebeard, we're bound to meet sooner or later."

"…Sure," said Spade, breaking into the first grin in a while. "So I can just…leave."

"Sure."

"…Okay. See ya."

"Wait, now?!" exclaimed Luffy.

"Why not?"

Luffy thought about this for a moment.

"Well," he said slowly, "what about food?"

"I'll fly along the coastline. There'll be towns."

"What if it rains?" he said worriedly. "And then you can't dematerialize anymore?"

Spade patted her legs. "Artificial bones have their gifts, cap'n. I'll be fine even in rain."

He seemed a bit stumped.

"Fine," he said grudgingly. "You can go. Just tell Ace—"

Spade didn't stay to hear the rest. Before Luffy had even finished his sentence, the bartender had disappeared into the sunset, leaving the captain rather confused as he stood on the deck, suddenly alone.

* * *

It took days to track down Whitebeard's ship. It'd been a while since Spade had actually used the tracking skills acquired from the Marines, tasting the scents of her surroundings in order to find some sort of lead. Asking around usually led to a ridiculous wild goose chase, so she relied solely on herself to find her target. She'd hover in the air, letting the air flow through her as she isolated the slightest hint of a ship…but the process took a long time, and Whitebeard could be anywhere.

Luckily, Spade already had a good idea of Whitebeard's location. He was situated in the New World, according to the latest rumors, and he was probably far along into it. After days of freezing weather, constant flying, and incessant tracking, Spade found the Moby Dick. Teeth chattering as she flew through another dense cloud, she dove straight down for the deck, letting the added acceleration of gravity aid her in a quick arrival.

Spade crashed down onto the deck, her landings as ungraceful as always, causing the wood beneath her to splinter. All heads turned to look at the intruder, and before she even had a moment to breathe, a sword was thrust at her neck.

"Who the hell are you?" her assailant demanded. "How the hell did ya—"

"_SPADE_?!" shouted a too-familiar voice from afar.

The crewmates and Spade turned to see the newcomer. Marco.

"Spade!" he yelled again, leaping down from the second story and running towards her. "Put the sword away—how the hell…is it really ya?"

"It's me," she said, shivering due to her damp clothes. "I k-know this is s-s-sudden, but I had to ask Whitebeard—or y-you—about some things—look, s-sorry for leaving l-like that, a-a year ago—"

Marco grabbed her and hugged her tightly in greeting, then let go immediately. It was obvious that there was no romantic implication involved, though perhaps it had only been apparent to Spade, for the onlookers were watching them with open mouths, eyes wide with curiosity.

"Here," Marco muttered, conscious of the stares, taking her by the shoulder and steering her toward the barracks. "Why in the world are ya wearing a white shirt? Everyone's just gawkin' at ya…"

"W-who cares," she said, teeth chattering audibly. "I-It's freezing…"

Marco opened the door to his cabin and pushed her inside. A roaring fire was already going at the hearth; Spade sat down in front of it, basking in its warmth.

"Here," said Marco, tossing her a shirt. "That's the smallest one I got, so hopefully it works. Now, mind tellin' me why you're here?"

"I thought it'd be obvious," she said, indecorously stripping and pulling Marco's shirt over her head. "Ace."

"So you heard…" he said.

"From no one less than Bartholomew Kuma," she said in disgust. "Got any pants, Marco?"

"Nope," he said. "Just sit by the fire and dry off."

Spade moved closer to the fire, turning so that she was facing Marco.

"So what've ya been doin' this last year?" he inquired, sitting across from her.

"Bartending. Now, did Whitebeard send Ace on the mission to track Blackbeard?"

"How'd you hear about that?" he said, surprised.

"I met Ace a few months ago," she replied. "He told me, and asked me to come with him."

"And being the prideful idiot you are, you rejected," sighed Marco.

"Hey, I'm pretty sure that if I'd accepted, we _both_ would be in Impel Down right now…"

Marco arched an eyebrow. "You heard that Blackbeard's _that_ strong?"

"I actually haven't," admitted Spade. "I thought he was just a dumb, fat ass, but maybe I missed it…after all…he was able to kill…"

Her voice trailed off, and she was hit with a wave of pain and guilt. She had not openly given much thought about Thatch ever since she'd heard the crass news of his death…but when she was alone, she'd think about the moments where Thatch had just _been there_, casually, prominently…and it hurt to know that he was gone, and that she had done nothing about it, no mourning…nothing.

"Thatch," said Marco coldly. "So you heard about that too. Ace tell you?"

"No…Teach did."

Marco's heavy-lidded eyes widened.

"You met him?!"

"Yeah," she said uncomfortably, now wishing that she'd taken the chance to beat Blackbeard to a pulp. "Shortly after I met Ace…"

Marco grabbed her shoulders.

"Did you fight?" he asked. "Any abilities that he had, any information—"

"He has a crew, last time I checked, I saw about…four people. They're not pushovers either—I went a bit one-on-one with his sniper, and even though it lasted for only a few seconds, it was enough to deduce that he's got quite a crew."

Marco waved aside this information. "Anything about Blackbeard himself? Anything…different?"

"…He's gotten fatter?" said Spade semi-jokingly. "No, I didn't notice anything…why?"

"He ate Thatch's Devil's Fruit…" murmured Marco. "That's the reason he killed Thatch…but none of us know what the abilities were, though if he was able to get Ace, it's gotta be somethin' frightful."

"Ace was probably too cocky and let his guard down," said Spade cynically.

"Nah, he's changed quite a lot since ya left," Marco said. "Gotten mature, gotten way stronger. I really think that there's somethin' about Blackbeard's ability that got Ace in trouble…"  
"Where exactly did it happen?" she questioned.

"Banaro Island, accordin' to the papers."

"I still don't understand…_how_? Ace is ridiculously strong—I know for a fact that he could beat me easily, if he really tried," she said. "But I always thought Teach was a nobody…never paid much attention to him…"

"I don't think any of us did, really."

"So now he's a Shichibukai," said Spade, rubbing her legs down. "This is difficult. What is Whitebeard planning?"

"We're going to go save Ace, obviously."

"Charging straight into Mariejoa?" said Spade dubiously.

"That's the plan. They say they're gonna execute Ace in about…a month's time, so we have that much time to prepare. They won't kill him before then."

"So this means war," said Spade quietly.

"Yeah, it does," nodded Marco. "But the World Government knows what it's dealin' with—the entire world knows what happens when you mess with Whitebeard's sons."

"Yeah," agreed Spade. "But surely…Ace himself doesn't want this…"

"So what? That's like him, sayin' that he's gonna be the sacrifice for many. Whitebeard knows that too. We're still charging." Marco stood up, surveying Spade up and down. "You look pretty dry now. Wanna go talk to the old man?"

"That'd be good," said Spade, standing up with him.

Marco opened the door and the two of them filed out of the room, winding along the deck to the main cabin. The mates were staring at Spade and Marco, whispering quietly behind them.

"Men," she grumbled. "They gossip just as much as old women."

"Oi!" shouted Marco at a couple passing by. "If ya got enough time to stare, go do somethin' productive!"

"Reminds me of the old days," said Spade with a twisted smile.

"Good days," said Marco, nodding. He was looking at her intently.

"What?" she said, wary of his gaze.

"Just thought short hair suited ya well."

"…Thanks," she said, bringing up a hand and fingering a tendril of her damp hair. "Ace always liked it long…but ever since we separated, I've just kept it short…for convenience's sake," she added hastily, regretting her somewhat sentimental statement immediately.

Marco caught her embarrassment and simply grinned, thankfully not teasing her about it.

"You've gotten prettier," he said.

"What is up with all these compliments?" she said cautiously.

"What, no one ever tells ya that?"

"No," she answered seriously.

"Ace didn't when he saw you?"

She thought about it for a moment. "You know, I think he did…something about it…but I don't really remember. His remarks never really stick to me."

"Which is surprising," Marco muttered, "since you always complained about him not treatin' you the same as other women."

"Shut up," she flared. "I've grown up a bit—I'm less petty now."

"I would hope so, but I dare not, because jealousy like yours is probably hard to get rid of."

"Marco!"

"Just kidding," he said quickly. "Damn, temper's the same as always."

"Only because you're acting like Ace," she said.

"Say…Spade."

"What?"

He paused for a second. "…This is probably a stupid question…"

"Spit it out," she said.

"…You still in love with Ace?"

"I have no idea," she said without skipping a beat.

"…You…have no idea," Marco said doubtfully. "So ya flew over seven seas to find us for a guy that ya might not be in love with? Sorry for being skeptical, but—"

"Oh drop it, Marco," Spade said snappishly. "You're the same as ever, mature, love-doctor, always trying to remedy me and Ace's problems."

"Hey, I'm bein' nice, all right?"

"Look, Ace and my relationship should be the least of our problems right now—how about we work on gettin' the idiot out alive from the clutches of seemingly inevitable doom first, and _then_ we can talk about…I dunno, marriage, babies, or something—"

"Babies?" chortled Marco.

"Shut up, it was just an example!"

"Along with marriage," he said mildly, pushing open the door to the main cabin.

"Shut up already, just ignore everything I said."

"Which includes the 'shut up' part, right?"

"Marco!" she said angrily. "You're not a child, you understand what I meant!"

"Yeah, yeah," he chuckled as he escorted her inside. "It's just fun teasin' ya."

"Shut up," she said for the umpteenth time.

They walked down the entrance of the large cabin, pausing in front of the central room. Before they knocked, Marco turned to her with a genuine smile.

"What is it?" she said suspiciously.

"Welcome back," he grinned, tousling her hair.

"…Thanks. It's good to be back," she said, knocking his hand away. "But I don't know if I'm going to stay for good, Marco, I just came to talk to Whitebeard about Ace—"

"Spade."

"…What?"

"We're going to save Ace. You don't need to worry about that."

"I-I know that," she insisted. "I'm not worrying."

"He's going to be fine," said Marco with that same penetratingly encouraging smile.

It then hit Spade just how worried she was, even though she hadn't been voicing it, even though she hadn't _realized_ it herself. The anxiety for Ace's safety, shown through her irritable nature and antsy behavior over the last few days, finally came into realization as she simply stared at Marco dumbly. He'd caught on to her tumultuous emotions faster than she had and was already being her encouragement, her support, even though it'd been a year since she'd last seen him.

They both seemed to know the danger that Ace was in, the great peril that was going to engulf them all the moment they set foot near the Marines, and yet Marco was being relentlessly optimistic about it in consideration of Spade's state of mind. Ace was _not_ all right, he was _not_ going to be fine, that none of them were…all this understanding suddenly clicked in Spade's mind, and coupled on with her guilt over Thatch's death, threw her restraint into the winds. Her self-control broke, and the tears began to flow in desperation, in fear, and as she buried her face in Marco's chest, her worry for Ace only grew exponentially.

Things weren't going to be fine. Nothing was ever fine when it came to Ace.

* * *

**Free Talk**:

I'm an awful person and author. It's been nearly two months since I last updated this, and I'm really sorry about it. Not only that, I feel like this chapter was really boring and bad, especially since I'm just confronting this huge rock called WRITER'S BLOCK in the road of my literary progress. I'm sorry. It's just been rather incurable, especially since One Piece the manga is progressing SO SLOWLY as of the last two months.

I mean, what can I _plan_ if nothing's happening! I actually haven't seen Ace in...oh wait, he was in one panel of the last chapter. Well, that aside, he's not even an important character right now...he's just _there_ waiting to get executed. Hello? I want to see Ace kick some ass!! Especially since he needs to redeem himself ever since his fight with Blackbeard...which was a good fight, I thought, though rather one-sided...

Anyway, I'm probably going to be playing around with the timing a lot, so please don't hate me for it. I just need to give Spade time to spend with Whitebeard's crew, and then she might go back to the Straw Hats for a few moments before the launch of the Impel Down arc. We shall see--I'm not really sure yet. I kind of just want to see how the rest of the fight in the manga plays out...and see if Spade could be of any use on the battlefield there.

I'm sorry if anyone is OOC in this chapter.

And I'm sorry for asking, but please review! It would make me _really_ happy. Please? :) It might help my depressed state of mind when it comes to OP!

Love,  
m.n


	16. Prettily Reckless

**Chapter 16: Prettily Reckless**

"It's been a while, Skye Spade," said Whitebeard, looking down on her as she and Marco approached him. "I assume you've come in regards to Ace's…trouble?"

"I wanted to know your course of action," she said, now properly composed. "To see…what I could do."

Whitebeard peered closely down at her.

"Have you been crying?" he asked.

"No," said Spade stubbornly.

"Yep," said Marco at the same time.

She glared at Marco, who simply looked innocently up at his captain.

"No one needs to notice my moments of unnecessary weakness," she hissed. "If you tell Ace, I will _destroy_ you."

"So Pops," said Marco cheerily, completely ignoring her, "what's going to happen?"

"We're staging an invasion right on the day of the execution," said Whitebeard. "Since you're not an official part of this crew, Spade, I don't think I can trust ya with the info on who—"

"It's fine," said Spade. "I just wanted to confirm that you guys were actually going to lead a full-scale attack. I don't think I can join ya though—I have my own crew to watch."

"Whose?" said Marco curiously.

"Incidentally, Ace's kid brother's the captain," she replied. "He's quite formidable. But I've left temporarily…"

"So are ya gonna save Ace?" asked Marco.

"Well, it's not like I can just sit back and do nothing," she sighed. "I'm pretty useless by myself though."

"So train," said Marco simply. "Then you can infiltrate on your own accord."

Spade thought for a moment. Judging from where she'd left the Strawhat crew and basing her calculations on the winds she'd felt then, their next landing could potentially be Shabondy Archipelago. And because it was so close to Mariejoa, there was a good chance that the Marines would come after them…so she'd probably have to get back to them before they got there. Which gave her a time span of…two weeks, max.

"Train here?" she said.

Marco nodded. "I'll do the honors. What we need to work on is your attack and simultaneous defense—no offense, you're not as good as maintaining it as I am."

"Is that all right, Whitebeard?" said Spade, arching an eyebrow. "I can't guarantee that I can do anything to help you out directly…"

"It is a foolhardy plan for you to infiltrate Impel Down by yourself," said Whitebeard gruffly. "I strongly disagree—the best you can do is to train here and then join us as we pound down Mariejoa on Ace's execution day."

"That's cutting it too close," said Spade arguably. "Who knows what could happen—they could shoot him dead in the middle of prison for running that mouth of his!"

"They won't execute him before the given time, Spade," said Whitebeard. "You should train with Marco and help out the rest of the crew. Come back as Second Division's Vice Captain."

Spade shook her head gently.

"I can't do that. That's a role I gave up a long time ago. I never commanded the respect of the squad members as well as Ace did back then. Nor do I deserve it now," she added bitterly. "No, I never was part of the Whitebeard Pirates. I'll do what I can, right now, but I won't swear my fealty to this ship. Or to you, Whitebeard."

"Spade—" said Marco a bit angrily.

"There is no one," said Spade seriously, "whom I can swear a loyalty to. But I think you can trust me enough not to betray you or your plans."

Whitebeard studied Spade's face closely, scrutinizing her expression, as if trying to decipher any hesitation, any weakness. He must've been content with what he found—or the lack of what he was looking for—for he leaned back in his chair and nodded.

"Very well. I'll need Marco for our plans, but if he's up to it, the rest of the time, he's yours."

* * *

"Concentrate, Spade…" said Marco through gritted teeth.

It was already the sixth day, and Spade had gotten nowhere. She was lying, sprawled on the deck of the Moby Dick amidst some broken floorboards. She still couldn't land right for the sake of her life.

"Why do landings matter?!" she said angrily, sitting up and rubbing her head. "What matters is how I attack and defend at the same time—if I crash land, I don't get hurt, it's just messy!"

"You need balance!" said Marco indignantly. "It'll help your coordination if you can propel off other surfaces—it saves time and energy! Try it again."

Spade let out a low curse and vaporized into the air again, hovering a good fifteen meters before dropping straight down in the air, letting her added velocity as well as the gravitational force pull her towards the ship again. She caught her breath, gritting her teeth as she neared the surface and pulled the force in her legs back, trying to stabilize her landing, only to feel the force still be too much. She crashed indecorously through the floorboards.

Marco gave a sigh and helped her out of the rubble, scratching his head thoughtfully.

"That was a bit better," he said half-heartedly.

Spade snorted. "Give me a break. Let's focus on something else—it's obvious that I still can't do this."

"Do you want to save Ace or not?" said Marco dryly.

"Well, obviously," retorted Spade, "but we can work on other things, can't we?"

"You don't want to try to be savin' him on the execution platform and end up crashin' through it all, do you?"

"Well if I manage to take the Marines down with me, it wouldn't be a big deal, would it?"

"Even if Ace were on it?"

"He'll survive," said Spade coolly. "Listen, Marco—"

"You're not strong, Spade."

The words caught her off guard, and she could not help but feel offended.

"I am perfectly strong, Marco," she said icily. "True, I'm probably not as good as you or Ace, but—"

"That's not what I meant," sighed Marco. "You don't use your brain when you fight."

Spade bristled. "_I_ use my brain perfectly fine, it's Ace who's the idiot!"

"Forget it," said Marco, exhaling. "Let's try a spar match. I'll show you how you don't use your brain."

"I'm not a moron, Marco!"

"You're not," admitted Marco. "You're just too rash. You're too hotheaded. You rush in, and it leaves ya too many openings."

"I'm not terribly worried about my defense, Marco," she said lightly. "I'm more worried about my offense—I still can't manage to injure Aokiji any."

"That's all about tactics, Spade. You're going to need to get your hands on some Kairouseki—which reminds me, I've gotta stash in my room. Remind me to give ya some later. Before ya leave or something." He moved his feet back a half-step, preparing for their match. "Now come at me, Spade. Let's see how much ya got."

* * *

A week passed.

"Great," said Marco, obviously exhausted but looking pleased. "That's tons better."

He caught her leg as she kicked at him, the strengthening ability in her calves activated as she swung at his face. Marco winced slightly from the effort it took to protect himself—it seemed that her strength had been amplified.

They were fighting with one Kairouseki handcuff on a wrist in order to prevent any dematerialization—Marco had insisted that it would benefit her if she fought handicapped. After all, the Marines were loaded with Kairouseki weapons.

"Follow up immediately," commanded Marco, ducking as Spade lashed out and aimed a punch at his head. "Right, keep going. The less time ya give 'em to recover, the better."

"Why—don't—you—stay…still!…" Spade, frustrated, kicked upward with her free foot, trying to balance herself on thin air for a split second. She failed miserably, and fell down.

"That's like what I said before," sighed Marco. "You get impatient, and ya don't use your head. Stop, bide your time. It's fine."

"If I bide my time, Ace could be executed in that instant," she said sourly. "But fine, I get your point."

She stood up, dusting off the dirt that had accumulated on her shorts. Her jade eyes looked out into the sunset, taking into consideration her strict time restraint.

"I better leave," she said, letting out a breath. "They should've gotten to Shabondy by now…"

"Your crew?" asked Marco.

"Yeah," she nodded. "It's pretty close to Mariejoa—I might be able to infiltrate that way…"

"That's a stupid plan," said Marco bluntly. "Think harder."

Spade glared at him. "I'll just wing it. Improv is my strength, I think." She stooped to the ground and picked up her hat, tossing it on her head as she relaxed her muscles for a brief second, analyzing her energy. "Thanks for training with me, Marco. Really appreciate it."

Marco nodded.

"I'll let the old man know you're gone."

"…Tell him I said thanks too."

"Yeah," said Marco. "Say, Spade."

"What is it?"

"…Do ya really care for anyone's history?"

"…What do you mean?" she said warily.

"Like…would ya judge people based on their heritage?"

"Goodness, no," she said, wrinkling her nose. "With what _I_ have for a father…"

"Who's your old man?" said Marco keenly.

Spade paused.

"No one," she answered tersely. "It's nothing. Your answer's no though. Why?"

Marco seemed to be lost in thought. He shrugged lightly. "Just sayin'. Ace isn't what he seems to be. Or…rather, his past."

"Is there something I need to know?" she said sharply.

"Nah," he said, shaking his head. "You're set. I still think stayin' with us until we move is a better idea, but hey. Whatever. Just don't get killed."

"I won't die that easily," said Spade wryly. "See ya later, Marco."

Marco gave her a brief and weary smile.

"Later. Stay safe."

"Thanks…you too."

With a rare smile in return, she kicked off the deck, evaporating into the air. Marco was left on the deck, staring into thin air.

Eh. Time to wing it.

* * *

She found Shabondy faster than she'd thought she could. It seemed that after two weeks of training, the speed and strength in her legs had increased considerably, making her offense and evasion greater. Which was good; she really was no chance against the Marines.

"Come on…" she muttered under her breath as she landed in a clump of deserted mangroves and hid behind a tree. "This island's so damn big…how am I gonna find them at this rate?"

Spade shut her eyes, evaporating into the air as she expanded her senses to try and find her crewmates. The closest one…oh damn, she could taste the scents of a lot of strong guys…hm. And the Tenryuubito were on the island as well. And they were rather close…well, so was Zoro. It looked like she couldn't avoid a meeting with them.

Spade disappeared into the air, racing at an incredible speed to Zoro's location. She found him amidst a crowd…walking…straight toward a Tenryuubito member.

"Shit!" she cursed, speeding up and intending to catch him by the shoulder and fly off with him.

Of course, she couldn't do anything about it. The Tenryuubito member…it was Charloss…

The rest of the crowd was gawking at Zoro's audacity. The clueless swordsman was drinking sake easily, strolling along the street, not noticing the attention he was receiving. He simply stopped in front of Charloss, who, likewise, was gazing at him with utter shock.

"Eh?" said Zoro, completely oblivious. "Do you need directions or something?"

There was a simultaneous gasp emitted from the crowd. Spade groaned inwardly, materializing a few yards away behind a building. She heard the click of a gun, a bullet—then the clink of metal sliding from a sheathe—the _idiot_, was he really going to attack a Tenryuubito member?! She whirled around, her winds creating a vacuum around the bullet that Charloss had let out, changing its direction. But it seemed like she hadn't needed to—a girl from afar grabbed Zoro by the shoulders, dragging him down with her.

Spade could hear the stranger crying over Zoro's presumably dead body as a red substance began staining the ground. Charloss paused at the scene for a moment, somewhat confused, before simply shrugging his shoulders and continuing on his way.

Spade, in a sense of immaturity, sent a gale of wind in Charloss's direction, catching him off guard and causing him to tumble onto the ground from the back of his slave. She smirked a little at Charloss's surprised indignant exclamation, and disappeared, reappearing right in front of Zoro.

The strange girl who had helped Zoro was accosting him.

"Are you crazy?!" she hollered. "What the hell were you trying to pull, eh?! Are you trying to get an Admiral sent to this island?! If you're a pirate, you should at least be able to recognize fellow pirates, right?! You tryin' to screw us all over?!"

Zoro was still looking extremely confused, touching his head and realizing that the fake blood had actually been tomato juice.

"Is there something wrong with your head?!" shouted the female pirate.

"No, I don't think I'm hurt."

"That's not the question—I meant _inside_ your head!"

"Hey," said Spade, pulling the female pirate back by the shoulder. "Let it go—he didn't know what was going on."

"Spade?!" said Zoro incredulously. "What—how the hell'd ya get here?! Luffy said you left!"

"Yeah, I did," said Spade, helping him up. "You an idiot? No one tell you what the Tenryuubito are?"

"What the hell is that?"

"Forget it, I'll explain it later. For now, say thank you to this nice lady for saving your sorry ass."

"Exactly," said the woman haughtily.

"What? She didn't save me—I did fine by myself—"

"You attacked a Tenryuubito member!" she said haughtily. "You would _not_ have been fine!"

Spade gave a sigh, running a hand through her hair and letting her hat fall by the strings across her neck down her back.

"Thanks," said Spade with a nod to the stranger. "I'd explain it to him now, but it's not gonna get ya anything of an apology."

The girl was staring at Spade with renewed interest as Zoro hit Spade lightly on the head to turn her attention back to him.  
"Ow, bastard," said Spade, glaring at him. "What?"

"You can't just leave and come back," he said coolly. "Not without explanation."

"I told Luffy everything—he didn't explain to you?"

"No, he just said you needed some time off, or some bull along those lines—"

"I went to Whitebeard, that's it!"

"I knew it!" said the woman. "I knew I've seen your face before—you're the Spade of Whitebeard's Ace of Spades, aren't you?"

"…Yeah, I was," said Spade, startled. "…I wasn't aware anyone would've seen me before though—"

"Like I would forget _your_ face," snorted the woman. "Jewelry Bonney—I'm captain of the Bonney pirates, bounty of a hundred forty mil."

"Don't remember you," said Spade honestly. "Have we met?"

"Well, you might've raided my ship a couple years ago with that moron partner of yours, but that was it," said Bonney sardonically. "I'm expectin' pay up, you."

"No can do," said Spade. "Your fault for bein' easy fish to fry."

"Point taken," said Bonney grimly. "I'm no longer the pushover from before though—say, where's your man? Or is he—" She pointed to Zoro, "your upgrade?"

Spade burst out laughing.

"Him?! Upgrade? From Ace?!" she laughed. "You're _joking_."

"Oi, I exist," said Zoro dryly.

"Well, I heard a lot of good things about this crew o' his," said Bonney. "First-mate, and bounty above a hundred mil? That's somethin'. Speakin' of bounties, what's yours?"

"…Seventy-eight mil right now, I think," said Spade thoughtfully. "But I guess if you add that on to all my previous ones, I'd be somewhere in the four hundreds…I guess that doesn't really count though."

Zoro cleared his throat, reminding the two women that he was still present. He looked annoyed.

"Well, Mr. Moody over here is tellin' me we need to leave," said Spade. "Nice seein' ya."

"Hey, nice meetin' ya too. Just before ya leave—you ever gonna get back to be Ace of Spades?" asked Bonney.

Spade paused, thinking that it would probably be very lucky if she even managed to see Ace again. Instead, she smiled.

"I'll have to think about that."

"Ever need a crew, join me," said Bonney with a smirk. "We could do with the female power."

"I'll keep that in mind." Spade waved to her as she and Zoro began to leave. "I'll see ya around."

* * *

"So why'd you leave?" said Zoro as they began to walk back to Mangrove One, where he insisted Luffy and the rest were, despite Spade's reassurances that Groves One to Twenty-Nine were in the Lawless Zone, and it was thus very unlikely that the rest of the crew had anchored the ship there.

"…Ace is in trouble," said Spade quietly. "I think I'm going to tell Luffy…it's really serious, and I think that Luffy won't ignore if it once he finds out."

"What's going on?" said Zoro warily. "You're making it sound like…like he's dying or something—"

"Well that's exactly what the Vivre card is saying, isn't it?" said Spade dryly. "So that's not new news…"

They walked in silence for a little while longer before Zoro spoke up again.

"I gotta say—I'm a bit offended when you basically called me a downgrade," he said wryly.

"Oh please," said Spade, rolling her eyes. "You don't expect me to think otherwise, do you? I mean, we both know that we could never be an item—we'd tear each other apart before we could even…"

Her voice trailed off as she realized that Zoro was not agreeing with her.

"Wait, wait, wait," she said, coming to a halt. "You can't…you can't possibly _like_ me, Roronoa!"

"What?!" said Zoro, turning a bit red. "No, of course not!"

Spade was not convinced.

"Are you sure?" she asked uneasily. "I…that would be really, really weird…"

"Whatever," said Zoro, turning away. "You're way too arrogant—to even _consider_ that—"

"Hey, it's possible! I have some good points!"

"So do I," he said sarcastically. "Which is why I'm offended that you said I was a downgrade—"

"Well, Ace is sorta…sorta perfect, so—"

"Your past experiences hardly confirm that—"

"Oh shut up," said Spade. "Ace and my affairs don't concern you, so just leave it to me, will you?"

"We're your crew—"

"Mate," said Spade exasperatedly, "my business is none of yours. Drop it., all right? You and I will never be that close."

"Why do you insist on that?" said Zoro irritably. "You…you hold no allegiance to any crew—you come and leave like you don't care, but you don't swear loyalty to Whitebeard either."

"Am I supposed to, idiot? I thought I made it clear that I don't intend to follow anyone."

"I—"

"Forget it, Roronoa," said Spade evenly. "Just shut up."

Much to her surprise, he did. They walked toward their destination in silence and tension. Spade let out a sigh. There was no point in getting any closer to him than she was already. She was going to be gone soon anyway.

* * *

Spade was running as fast as she could, breathing harshly. She could hear the screams, the explosions, as the Bartholomew Kuma replicas came…

And to think that Raleigh of the Roger pirates was here…

Incredible.

And they were running for their lives. She still had not been able to tell Luffy about Ace, but given the intense events that had ensued the moment she had met up with him, it had been impossible to. Now, Zoro was close to death and the group was being pursued by an Admiral and a few duplicates of a Shichibukai. Not much of a scenario to talk in…

She was badly injured; that broad-axe guy could somehow hit her even when she was in her transparent form. She had let down her guard and had received a nasty gash across her waist that was still bleeding profusely.

But even compared to her injured state, Brooke and Usopp were too slow. She glanced behind her, seeing that they were struggling with Zoro's unconscious body. She let out a swear and appeared in front of them.

"I'll get him," she said, relieving them of their burden. "You guys run."

"No, wait, you can't carry him and run at the same time!" said Usopp indignantly. "You're hurt!"

"So are you guys, and worse than I am at that. I got it," she said harshly, taking Zoro and shifting his weight over her back. "Let's go."

With the strength of her artificial bones, she sped up, more than hampered by Zoro's weight but quick enough to keep up with Brooke and Usopp's renewed speed.

"Leave…me," said Zoro's raspy voice by her ear.

"Give me a break," she snapped, jumping over a branch. "Luffy ordered them to get you—I'm just sharing the burden."

"I'm…weighing you down…if you let go of me…you'll be able to run away."

"Who's the one with the protecting issue now?" she said acidly, surprised that she could even muster up the vestiges of her sarcasm in this kind of situation.

"He's here!" hollered Usopp.

Spade didn't need to look behind her to know who he was talking about—it was the Kuma replicate. She gritted her teeth.

"Usopp!" she shouted. "Catch Zoro!"

She hovered slightly in the air, speeding backward and dropping Zoro's into Usopp's arm. Not bothering to see if he had caught Zoro or not, she rushed toward the Pacifista, now properly dematerialized.

"Ava, you don't stand a chance!" said Usopp.

"Why don't you just _leave_, idiot!" she yelled, whirling her leg around her body to propel herself forward.

Brooke halted down below her—they simultaneously attacked, but it wasn't enough. The Kuma duplicate simply blasted them out of the way; Spade vanished into the air instantly, avoiding the damage, then followed immediately with another attack.

"Tatsumaki."

A tornado crashed down right on the Pacifista's head. Spade dropped down onto the ground, and, not waiting for the smoke to clear, retaliated all the same.

"Kazeken!"

A large crescent of wind erupted from her outstretched hands—she heard it connect with something solid, and when no thud ensued, she cursed. It still wasn't enough…

"Spade, get out of the way!" shouted Robin from afar, dragging with her an unconscious Luffy. "Chopper's gone berserk—he's coming this way!"

Spade vaporized again as a large shadow covered the looming area—the Pacifista took Chopper out instantly. His huge body fell to the ground with a gargantuan crash, rumbling the entire surface of the island—the Pacifista opened his mouth to spurt out another bomb of condensed air pressure when a commanding voice appeared amidst the havoc behind her.

"Pacifista One. Halt."

It did. Spade's eyes widened as she whipped around, her eyes landing on the real Bartholomew Kuma, who was standing right in front of Zoro.

Kuma's arm was raised, hovering above Zoro's head.

"KUMA!" she bellowed.

The Shichibukai's emotionless gaze turned to Spade, eyes flickering as he saw her.

"The deal," she said harshly. "The deal, remember it. I—"

Kuma cut her off, his attention turning back to Zoro.

"Roronoa. If you could go on a trip, where would you like to go?"

"RUN!" screamed Usopp.

Zoro was not given a chance to reply. Kuma brought down his hand, and Zoro vanished. No trace.

Spade relaxed. So Kuma had not forgotten. The crew…they would remain alive.

Time to part ways.

* * *

"…So they're gone, Skye Spade," said Kuma's deep voice as the smoke cleared.

He approached her, trampling over the rubble easily, and stopped in front of her still profile.

"Your crewmembers have been spared. Will you consent to your arrest?"

Spade took a deep breath and let it out, looking at Kuma square in the eye. She did not respond.

"I thought you'd have more honor than to consider running," he said in his low timbre.

"I won't," said Spade. "We can leave."

"…What if I told you that I didn't make the crew disappear because of you? Had you not been here—had there not been a deal…I would've done the same."

"Well, then you didn't uphold any part of the deal, and I could run," said Spade with a weary smirk. "Shall we play cat and mouse for a while longer, Kuma?"

"…You will not be able to get far, Skye Spade."

"I know. Which is why I'm not running."

"…I should hope that you are not getting any preposterous ideas of being able to save Portgas D. Ace. That would be a foolish plan."

"If you're just going to lecture me, then I will run," she said. "And you will have a hell of a time trying to catch me."

"…Very well. Then turn yourself in, Skye Spade. We will depart to Mariejoa."

* * *

Spade hated Kairouseki.

Hated it with a passion.

She was sitting in the lowest deck of a Marine ship, her arms pinned over her head with a set of Kairouseki handcuffs while her ankles were shackled to the ground. They had put a slave collar on her neck—the barbarity—in order to prevent her from activating the ability in her legs and running.

Not that she would have, anyway.

From what she had overheard from Kuma and Admiral Kizaru, they were departing to Mariejoa, where the Shichibukai were gradually gathering.

And the Shichibukai included Blackbeard.

Spade rested her head on the damp wall behind her. She was parched. The room was boiling hot and humid at that, causing her to perspire. The Marines did not treat their prisoners kindly, and she was given food and water once a day. She breathed in deeply, trying to calm down her erratic heartbeat and think clearly.

She needed a plan and had none. There was nothing she could do to help Ace the moment she was put in Impel Down—there was no escape from the inside without outside help. But Spade wasn't concerned with Impel Down at the moment—rather, she chose not to think about the torture that she would inevitably go through.

Instead, she was focusing on how to find Blackbeard and beat the living hell out of him.

The door creaked open in the middle of her thoughts. Spade opened her green eyes blearily and stared at the door, noticing with a silent groan that it was the weird guard who always looked at her creepily as she ate. His hands always twitched as he watched her eat, as if he was itching to touch her.

"Your food, Skye," he said breathily with a strange grin.

"It's Spade," she said, her voice hoarse from dryness.

He sat down beside her and lifted up the glass to her lips.

"I can feed myself," she said coldly. "Just unlock my arms."

"I forgot the key," he said creepily.

"You—"

He tipped the cup at a higher angle, letting the water splash over her chin. She gasped, turning away and coughing.

"Oops, looks like you didn't want your water at all," he said with a short laugh. "Now, time to feed you—"

"I don't need you to feed me," she said dangerously. "Don't you dare—"

He crammed a bit of the moldy bread in her mouth, cutting of her sentence as she choked.

"I've heard about what a strong woman you are," he said in that same strange manner. "Strong, independent…very beautiful, especially when you're beaten. Covered in bruises and blood…women like you shouldn't be pirates—you'll hurt your pretty selves…"

Spade swallowed the bread hastily and gulped in oxygen, turning her gaze resolutely to her captor's.

"Don't you _dare_ try to lay a hand on me," she said in a deadly voice.

"What can you do?" he said mockingly. "You're all tied up, after all."

He let out a high-pitched giggle and brought his hand up to her cheek, sliding it down her neck quickly and to the buttons of her blouse. Spade reacted immediately, kicking up her legs only to realize that she was shackled.

Her assailant let out another laugh.

"See what I mean?" he crooned, snapping open the buttons. "You really can't do anything—"

"Fuck yeah, I can," she snarled, activating her artificially charged strength and ripping through the floorboards of the deck, bringing her legs up and kneeing him straight in the face.

Before he could scream in pain, she kicked out immediately, hitting him in the chest and sending him flying all the way across the room, where his body collided with the opposite wall and cracked it.

"Try touching me again," she said furiously to his inert body. "I'll beat you until your own mother can't recognize you…"

There was the sound of running from up above and the door opened again, revealing four white-clad Marines. The supposed captain of the ship looked quickly around the room, analyzing the situation.

"Send another man to try touching me again," snarled Spade, "and I will kill him without a second's hesitation."

"Skye Spade," said the leader slowly, "you should know your place."

"I haven't made a ruckus until this freak tried to lay his filthy hands on me," she spat. "I thought the Marines had a bit more _honor_ than that!"

The leader remained silent as he stared down at her, obviously pondering something.

"Were you not a Vice Admiral at some point?" he questioned. "The personal apprentice of Admiral Aokiji? Why would you throw away your position? The Marines are serving for world justice—"

Spade let out a hollow laugh.

"World justice?! Yeah, I believed that bullshit while I was there, but why don't you go look up Ohara and Buster Call and see exactly how many islands have been wiped out due to your so called 'justice system.' The Marines aren't as clean as they seem to be, mister."

He did not answer immediately, but simply looked at her silently.

"Take him away and confine him," he ordered one of his lackeys, gesturing to the unconscious guard slumped at the ground. "You two." He pointed the remaining underdogs. "Feel free to…beat her up a bit. Teach her exactly what it means to be on my ship."

"Yes sir!"

Spade gave a grim smile.

"Come along, boys," she said quietly. "I'll show you what I got."

* * *

The ship arrived in Mariejoa, and by the time they arrived, Spade was not in tip-top shape. She had gotten in more than a few skirmishes but had been fine enough to defend herself from any perverts, but she had sustained more than a few flesh wounds. In addition, the one she'd gotten from the broad-axe still hadn't healed—in fact, it felt like it'd gotten worse from the lack of treatment.

Bartholomew Kuma was escorting her, and for once, Spade was glad that he was the one beside her. At least he didn't try to violate her every single time he saw her…these seamen seriously needed to get laid more, if they were that anxious to find a female prisoner…

"…It seems that some of the Shichibukai are anxious to see you," said Kuma as they walked toward the high buildings.

"Why?" said Spade suspiciously, shaking her head so that a strand of hair could get out of her face. "I don't know any of them…except for Blackbeard…"

"…I think he is the one who requested to see you once he heard that you'd been captured."

"Joy," she said bitterly, wishing she were in better condition for another high-scale fight.

"…Do not even think of attacking him," said Kuma, as if reading her mind. "You will not stand a chance."

Spade simply scoffed and lapsed into silence, following Kuma into one particularly rounded building. The Shichibukai was stopped in the lobby by some officers.

"I will have some men from the ship escort you to the Shichibukai room," said Kuma. "I will join you later."

"Take of the collar," she said chillingly. "You don't think I'd be stupid enough to run away with the Shichibukai right in front of me, do you?"

Kuma considered her words, then beckoned for one of the men behind her to unlock the collar. She looked at the ring of keys he held up as he took it off—she could see the prominent silver one that she knew would unlock the Kairouseki handcuffs.

Feeling a bit more confident as the adrenaline began rushing through her body, Spade walked up the stairs to the indicated room, surrounded by three Marines. She resisted a smirk. If they thought she couldn't even take _them_ out, they were dead wrong…

They finally got to the dining room, where the doors were opened, revealing four of the Shichibukai. Spade's eyes narrowed as she analyzed every single one: Doflamingo, Moria, Mihawk, and…

"Well," guffawed Teach as he noticed her, "if it isn't Skye Spade! Lookin' a bit beat up there, y'know!"

"Hi," she said curtly, walking into the room and waiting until the doors shut behind her.

"Got caught, didn't ya?" said Teach, looking down at her. "Told ya—ya shoulda joined me and mah crew earlier—you'd be free like us!"

"Right," she said with burning coldness.

She balanced herself on her hands and kicked in a spiral, knocking out all three Marines behind her in an instant. They collapsed to the ground, all unconscious. She dug into one of their pockets, retrieving the keys and unlocking her cuffs swiftly, letting them all drop to the ground.

"Hi, Teach," she all but snarled, walking forward, relishing the feeling of her Kaze powers returning to her. "Wanna fight? Yeah, I'm all for one right now."

A tornado unconsciously formed to her right, destroying the dining table into tiny splinters—a reflection of her rage.

"You don't seriously mean ta try an' attack us now, do ya?" snorted Teach. "Look at ya, Spade! Ya can hardly stand—"

A blast of wind sped straight into his large mouth, cutting and deadly, causing him to shut up. He cried out in pain, collapsing to the ground with a huge thud.

"Let's get this straight, Shichibukai," she said coldly, addressing the rest of the inhabitants of the room. "You stay out of this and enjoy the show—we all know it won't last long, but I wanna beat the living shit out of him while I can."

"Ho, ho, ho!" cackled Doflamingo. "You're a feisty one, aren't ya?"

Mihawk stepped forward.

"I'm afraid this will be problematic to—"

"Get outta the way, Mihawk," said Blackbeard, getting back up to his feet. "I'll take care o' the girlie—she wants a fight to avenge her lil boyfriend—"

"Kazeken."

The wind crescents sliced through the air, cutting straight into Teach's chest. He shouted out in pain again, falling backwards with another thud.

"Yeah, I still don't get it," said Spade, still walking to him. "How the hell did _you_ manage to beat Ace? Makes absolutely no sense—"

"So ya are here for Ace, ain't ya?"

"Hell yeah, I am, Teach—I thought I told you before that if you managed to throw Ace to the Marine dogs, I'd be back to kill you and your little friends—"

She stretched out her palm and brought it in a downward motion, forming the tornado instantaneously and crashing it down straight at Teach's head.

"Get up," she said furiously. "You're pathetic."

Teach got up slowly, his grin widening as he stared at her.

"You want a fight, Spade?"

"Damn straight."

"Then a fight ya got," chortled Teach, readying himself. "I'll throw you into Impel Down right with Ace!"

Spade knew a lost cause when she saw one. And she knew this was a lost cause, even though she still didn't know Teach's powers.

But she was tired of the calculative way of fighting.

Ace was a natural, wasn't he? At fighting, at least. And he always won—well, usually. And he never used his brain.

So she wouldn't either.

She could feel the energy rush through her body, through her blood, her skin. She could literally feel the tattoo engraved into her back burn. Urging her on.

And so she lunged.

* * *

**Free Talk**:

I'm sorry! I haven't updated in a million years!! :( I totally apologize, but I'm thinking that because the Ace arc should be wrapping up pretty soon, I'll be able to update sooner because I'll hopefully be hit with bouts of creativity, haha.

I feel like my writing has deteriorated--sorry if this chapter was subpar to my normal standards. And I'm also sorry if Spade comes off as a bit...Mary-Sue. I don't know, I've never, ever seen Spade as a Mary-Sue, given her awful temper, but perhaps she could be seen as one for her protection problem, which was seen in this chapter. Please don't think she's Mary-Sue though. I think she's very plausible, personality-wise.

Thanks for all your reviews! I would be so happy if we kept up our lovely number of reviews! :) That would be so nice! And I _promise_ I'll update sooner!! Oh, and if you're interested in a more in-depth discussion of this chapter, go to my LJ (the link is on my profile)!

Review please!

xoxo,

m.n


	17. A Note

**NOTE: THIS IS NOT A REAL CHAPTER**

Sorry for making this a chapter, but this note is necessary.

So I think all of us are greatly winded by what has happened. Our notion of, "In the world of One Piece, no one dies," was proved wrong. And by none other than the death of Portgas D. Ace.

Needless to say, I'm furious.

Ace's death was not only unnecessary, but it was sudden and did not give Ace the proper dignified death he deserved, if he deserved death at all. And I hate that he was crying so much at the end. Once was fine, but constantly got kinda annoying. But regardless, I like Ace, and it is _ridiculous_ that he's dead.

However, I think he's dead. If he's not, then good. But being the pessimist I am, I think he's dead--period.

Which brings me to the real purpose of this note. I have no idea what to do with Ace of Spades now. I have no idea what Spade will do. Nor do I know how I'm going to end it. However, I don't believe in never finishing a story--I think my readers deserve more than a hanging ending. So I leave it up to you.

Should I follow the canon and have Ace die, and have Spade do something (exactly what, I don't know, but something)?

Or should I make Ace survive miraculously and have a happy ending?

Personally, I hate detracting from big issues in the real plotline, but in this case, it might just be acceptable, especially because I'd never, _ever_ planned for this. So PM or leave a review telling me what you think I should do. Based on the results, I'll continue updating in that manner.

Again, sorry for making this a chapter! Please tell me what you think.

xoxo,

m.n


	18. Duos Come in Pairs

**Chapter 17: Duos Come in Pairs**

To tell the truth, Spade had never really been good with guys. She'd always disliked them. Their lack of sophistication, their lack of tact, their steadfast stereotype that women were weaker than men.

Teach fit all of the above.

Which meant Spade felt no little satisfaction when her foot came connecting straight into Teach's face; actual corporeal contact, not the more efficient offense through her winds, felt just so much better. Teach stumbled back awkwardly and fell again. Spade did not let up, not anxious to give him any room to retaliate. The battle seemed fairly one-sided, but she could not shake off the feeling that something was rather wrong with the entire scenario.

She leapt backward, landing meters away from Teach's fallen figure, balancing herself acrobatically on the chandelier that dangled in the middle of the room. She could feel the eyes of the rest of the Shichibukai on her, watching her injury-ridden body hang heavily on the thin golden chains of the fragile lamp. It suddenly struck her that she must have lost a lot of weight, to be able to stand on the chandelier without it crashing to the floor.

She pursed her lips as Teach stood up, not liking the look that Teach had in his eyes. An uncustomary silence stretched on.

"Show me it," she demanded finally. "The ability that was able to bring even Ace down. Show it."

"Ha ha," guffawed Teach, shaking out his limbs, "you're too impatient, Spade. But if ya wanna see it, be mah guest! An' the rest o' ya better get away!"

A dark black mass began to emanate from Teach's body; Spade leaned away instinctively, her jade eyes narrowing as she clutched the chandelier tightly. The rest of the Shichibukai retreated to the opposite end of the room.

"Now what the hell is that?" laughed Doflamingo, obviously enjoying the spectacle. "Anyone wanna bet? Ten million on the fatso?"

"No one's stupid enough to bet, Doflamingo," said Mihawk seriously. "This has been a lost cause since she first walked into the room."

_That it was_, thought Spade silently as she began to rock the chandelier back and forth. She was not stupid enough to think that she could take down someone whom Ace couldn't. Her only goal upon setting foot in this room had been to inflict as much pain on Teach as possible; seeing that she had no other possible destination except for Impel Down, where she would surely be subject to every foul form of torture possible, she was going to make the best of her time.

"You're wind," panted Teach, "Ace's fire. Mah ability is different from ya'll—the Devil's Fruit I took from Thatch is ten times worse than any other possible Fruit—"

Another blade of wind pierced his mouth mid-sentence; Teach let out a howl of pain, but Spade simply gazed down pitilessly at him.

"Save the theatrics—you're wasting my time. If you want to put up a fight at all, I suggest you hurry up and pull out your cards. If not…" The tattoos at her ankles burned slightly as she wearily activated her artificial bones. "I'll finish up."

Spade flew forward, appearing instantaneously in front of Teach and kicking outward at his neck, catching it slightly before she brought her other leg up to slam right down on his face. Her leg was jerked back; she felt herself being swung and then slammed into the wall opposite of the room. A sickening crunch sounded through the air; she let out a curse as her head spun painfully and a sharp, jabbing pain rippled down her spine.

"Physically, girl like ya can't possibly beat me," said Teach with a wry grin. "An' wind has always been a weaker Devil's Fruit—in the face of darkness, it can't possibly win!"

Darkness?

Wow.

Spade could not help rolling her eyes despite the amount of pain it gave. Darkness. If anything could be lamer…she couldn't think of it. A little part of her was rejuvenated to actually try and _win_ because it'd be just too pathetic to lose at the hands of _darkness_.

She staggered to her feet, trying to ignore the pain that increased tenfold as she stood; her head throbbed and her back felt like it had been cracked open, but raw pain was not quite enough to slow her down at this point.

Before she could say something sarcastically witty, though, the black mass that crawled creepily from Teach's gargantuan profile sped up and reached her. An irresistible force pulled her forward against her will, and before she could even try and retaliate, Teach's huge arm connected with Spade's side, sending another jolt of electrifying pain up her torso; she gritted her teeth and tried to activate her Kaze ability, only to find that she could summon no sense of ethereality onto her body.

Spade jerked back in an ungainly manner, forcing her aching body to twist as she slammed her leg as hard as she could into the arm that was gripping her like a doll. Teach yelped—an uncharacteristic sound for a man of his proportion—and let her drop. The moment she was released, Spade felt the suppressed Devil's Fruit power return to her, and she blasted two bolts of swirling wind instantly in Teach's direction as she hit the floor with a sickening crunch.

She dragged herself up into sitting position, scooting away from Teach's bent-over figure warily.

"So…you nullify our Devil's Fruits," she said, breathing raggedly as she forced her eyes to stay open. "And you…pull us to you."

Teach laughed. "That's it, Spade! An' there's nothin' you can do to stop it!"

"A magnetic attraction…that you always wanted to gain through looks but never could," she mumbled, standing up slowly. "…Good to hear that you…finally did."

"What was that, Spade?"

"I said—"

But Spade never got the chance to repeat her ridiculously immature statement. A hand grabbed her head and slammed her back down onto the floor; Spade let out a cry of pain—this was too much exertion for a girl who was still sustaining wounds from weeks prior. Her head throbbed as if someone had been slamming her consistently into walls—oh, wait, someone had—and she could not restrain a hiss of pain as her apprehender pulled her hair roughly upward, exposing her face.

"Kuma!" said Teach indignantly. "This is mah fight—stay out of it!"

"I thought I warned you before hand, Skye Spade," said Kuma coldly, ignoring Blackbeard completely. "Why do you insist on being so rebellious?"

"…Because I thought…it'd be a hell lot of fun," she spat, her chest heaving as she felt Kuma lock her wrists together with a Kairoseki handcuff. "Because it'd be…_hilarious_."

"Your sense of humor will earn you more punishments than necessary in Impel Down," said Kuma solemnly.

Spade did not reply—her heavily veiled eyes were already beginning to slowly flutter shut. The pain that raged throughout her body was causing her mind to shut down immediately; it was too much to cope.

She gave a weary smirk. She had not been able to hit Teach as much as she would've liked.

Failure number one.

And so…now what?

* * *

Ace was playing poker with the guys down below the deck. Spade sat near the top of the mast, keeping lookout with her legs propped up over the edge of the rails and her neck craned to look straight ahead. She was playing with visible wind, trying to get the swirling masses in her hand to pressurize into some sort of shape, not the ill-defined ball of whatever that it was at the time. Marco had told her that if she actually got the pressurized wind to condense tight enough, it would make a fantastic bomb. And that was an attack she was very eager to try out.

She cradled her fingers together, shaping them into an immature heart. Spade could not resist a grimace; such sentimentality was so ridiculous to her. But…a heart flipped upside down was a spade, and that shape, for obvious reasons, was her favorite.

A spade-shaped bomb. How quaint.

She was just about to throw it over the edge of the ship to see how much damage it would cause when Ace appeared right in front of her. Her arm was already propelling forward, and Ace, who had just solidified, was sent flying back from the force of the bomb.

Spade winced and reached out instinctively, grabbing Ace's wrist and attempting to pull him back. Unfortunately, tugging him back so suddenly caused him to slam straight into railing in below her. Spade grinned apologetically.

"…Ace?" she called hesitantly.

There was a slight pause, then a cough.

"…What is _wrong_ with you?" he said angrily, his face snapping up to look at her. A stream of blood trickled down from his forehead. "Are you _crazy_?"

"I didn't see you…" she said, using her winds to hoist him up to the mast with her.

"You are just one crazy-ass bitch—why are you trying to kill me?"

"I wasn't trying to kill you, Ace," she sighed, reaching over and prodding him on the forehead as he sat down across from her. He winced at the contact and rubbed his chest gingerly.

"Well, good to know that my bomb was a failure," said Spade. "Had that actually worked, you would've been sent flying into the ocean with no hope of redemption…"

"Good to hear," he scoffed. "I just came to ask you to join us in our poker game—I'm getting killed."

"I'll pass," she said with distaste as she thought of the crowded, stuffy rooms below deck filled to carrying capacity with ugly, sweaty men. "I much prefer being up here in the open…it's so much cleaner. And freer, until you came and took up the rest of the room."

"My bad," grumbled Ace. "I'll just go back down since you're so anxious to try an' kill me with those crazy bombs of yours—why the hell did Marco suggest you make _bombs_? Doesn't he know how trigger-happy you are to begin with? What's he tryin' to do, kill us all?"

"If you don't shut up," said Spade dryly, "I'll be sure to send one straight through your head when you're sleeping."

"Geez, what kinda woman are you…"

"Not yours, that's for sure," she said semi-jokingly, propping her legs up on the railing opposite her as she slid down so that she was nearly lying on the crowded surface.

Ace's face appeared in front of hers, his expression one of childish annoyance.

"Say what, woman?"

"I don't _belong_ to you, idiot. Where men get this ridiculous misconception that women are property is beyond me—everyone on this ship knows I could beat the shit out of them if I wanted to."

"Whatever, Skye…"

Spade's eyes flickered to meet Ace's, silently reminding him that she would rather be called by her surname, but Ace just shrugged off her warning.

"Dunno why in the world you're so uptight about your name," he remarked. "Doesn't it really reflect…y'know, your nature? Skye? What's wrong with it?"

"It's stupidly sentimental," she answered. "And ridiculously feminine."

"It isn't feminine," countered Ace dryly. "Names are names. An identity."

"Spade is my identity. Ace of Spades is my niche. I'm…already where I'm supposed to be."

"…That was the most sentimental thing I've ever heard outta ya."

"Shut up," she flared.

Ace laughed and tousled her hair gently.

"Don't worry, Skye. I gotcha. Ace of Spades comes and goes together, eh?" He pecked her lightly on the cheek. "We're a permanent pair."

* * *

Ace hurt. All over.

He couldn't have expected much more, being in the most guarded cell in Impel Down, but it still didn't make him feel much better. Thank God he wasn't alone though—he might've gone insane had Jimbei not been there to keep him company.

He'd lost track of the days he'd sat in the cell, wrists chained to the wall with Kairouseki handcuffs, his entire body bloodied by excessive torture and less-than-gentle treatment from the guards. _Damn_ it all. There was no way Ace could know what was going on outside, even though he was pretty sure he knew what Whitebeard was going to do. He was equally sure that he could not allow it to happen—war with the Marines was pointless, dangerous, and incredibly impractical. In fact, with Whitebeard's health as of late, who knew what could actually happen to the great pirate himself. Not that Ace doubted his father's capabilities, but Whitebeard's life was much too great to risk in return of his own.

"He's right here, Vice Admiral," said the clipped voice of a guard, his words echoing in the damp hallway.

"I got it from here then," responded a gruffer, more familiar voice.

"Sir, it's dangerous, these men are—"

"I got it," Garp said with finality.

"…Yes sir. Call if you need anything."

Ace opened his eyes blearily and looked in front of him. Outside the steel rods that encompassed Ace's prison, Garp was sitting on the floor, staring at him levelly, his stern white Marine uniform much too drastic of a contrast with the darkness that engulfed the hallway. Ace nearly looked away, repulsed by the brightness of it, but his eyes situated themselves against the newcomer, and he returned the stare.

"Lookin' a bit beat up there, Ace," said Garp finally. "You still alive?"

"Hah…old man…"

"…Why didn't you listen to me, Ace?" sighed Garp, setting his hands on his knees. "Why did you and Luffy have to become pirates instead of the law-abiding Marines I raised you to be?"

"It was inevitable," Ace said, his voice hoarse. "Luffy and I have the blood of the greatest outlaws of the century flowing though our veins…we would be pursued just for being their sons."

"There would've been ways around that, Ace…"

"Not enough for us, Gramps…and that's why Whitebeard is the only father I got—I don't give a damn for my real father…I don't have any obligation towards him…"

"That's understandable," was the reply. "Just seeing how he was…"

Ace did not particularly feel like socializing.

"What are you…" He coughed, the pain in his chest cutting him off. "What are you doing here?"

"…Seeing you," said the old man.

"…What's going on outside?" demanded Ace.

Garp didn't answer.

"…Old man," Ace said. "I…I already know."

"…Of course you do," answered Garp gruffly. "Everyone knew what would happen the moment they brought you here to Impel Down."

"…I…need you to kill me," said Ace huskily.

Garp let out a bark of laughter. "Kill you? What good would that do, Ace? We've already angered the most powerful man of the seas—there's absolutely nothing we _can_ do! War is inevitable, Ace!"

Ace gritted his teeth, his head unconsciously bowing to Garp's words. No, war _had_ to be avoided—he was not worth this much effort, this much attention…

Garp got to his feet, his shoes clacking against the floor loudly. Some of the other prisoners—Crocodile most prominent—eavesdropped on the conversation none too surreptitiously, most of their teeth bared in grins.

"I got some news for ya, Ace," said Garp quietly. "…Ava Skye Spade."

Ace's head shot up.

"Ring a bell?" said Garp grimly.

"…What happened to her?" he said, barely managing to get the words out.

"…She…she was the only one of Luffy's crew they got. Kuma didn't send her flying like he did the others. They went to Mariejoa, where she evidently tried to beat the livin' shit outta Blackbeard but didn't get too far…"

"Where is she _now_?"

"…Here," he replied heavily. "She'll be transferred to this cell as well."

"Why the hell—"

"You don't get it, Ace," said Garp gravely. "The Marines are trying to make this as loud of an announcement as they can."

The words sunk in slowly. Understanding filtered through his numbed mind seconds later.

"…No," he breathed. "She hasn't done anything for years—all that stuff with Luffy's crew—she was just screwin' around. There's no reason to—"

"Ya still don't get it, Ace," said Garp, this time almost gently. "The Marines want to make a statement. There's no better way to do it than to execute the Ace of Spades together."

* * *

Spade was a feminist. She believed in women's rights, believed that men were in _no_ way superior to women other than their genetic physical makeup, but one thing she _did_ believe in was die-hard chivalry.

Obviously, that wasn't exactly exhibited in Impel Down.

She didn't remember much of the torture process. The "cleansing" portion had been stupid. Why the hell she had to be lowered into a pot of boiling water was beyond her. It hurt. Obviously.

And the bodily inflicted pain was so excruciating that within the ninth or tenth hour, she could not think any longer. Could not register anything that happened around her—pain was dulled, more pain was just duller. It got to the point where she began to think that her nerves were disconnected, for her attempts at motor functions were fruitless.

She could deal with the corporeal pain though. She could shut her mouth for once in her life and try her hardest to screw her mind in concentration and hope that she would not die sometime in the process.

There were two things she was deathly afraid of.

The first was obvious—that they would kill Ace before her languid mind could formulate some sort of coherent plan as to get them out of there. But she'd heard from the slow-moving lips of the guards that Ace had a set execution date, perhaps a week or so later, and that it was impossible to kill him beforehand. The information, though morbid, did allow Spade to breathe a little easier.

The second was less secure and infinitely more imminent—that they would shatter her legs.

Spade didn't know if the guards knew about her legs, which was why she had been waiting to use them. If she failed to escape, they would break them, without a doubt. She had to wait for the perfect, opportune moment to use them—and she had to be able to make it out of Impel Down alive with them intact. Screw it up, and her last hope would disappear.

Hours or days after the torture had started, Spade felt herself be lifted from the cold bloody ground of an empty cell and dragged to a lower floor. Her head spun wildly, and she was filled with a nausea that she knew she could not relieve. Her arms, still bound by multiple sets of Kairouseki behind her back, screamed in pain from behind held stiffly in place for so long. Hunger was the last of her concerns, but her parched and searing throat was hardly ignorable. Hygiene was surprisingly more irritating than anything. She wanted a shower. A long, hot shower away from _any_ prisoner who reeked of blood and vomit and foul scents.

Trying to keep her eyes open wasted her energy. She instead tried to manage the vestiges of power from her Devil's Fruit in an attempt to taste the air and find how many people were around her, how deep they were underwater…the attempt was useless and pointless, as the air was drenched with the rusty scents of blood and salty taste of sweat.

The trip to her unknown destination was a blur; after a painful journey, Spade wearily detected the sound of jangling keys and the creak of a door opening. Voices mixed in with the sounds, but which voice belonged to whom, she could not differentiate. Her arms were unbound for a temporary moment of relief, only to be lifted above her head and chained in place. The footsteps of her guard retreated, and a steel door clanged shut. One less presence in the room.

But this level was at the greatest depth she'd felt yet. The mere pressure it presented was suffocating, making it even harder for her to take in the shallow breaths she could barely muster.

Something touched her hand for an infinitesimal amount of time, but it was enough for her to tell that the touch was not malignant. Her body unconsciously relaxed as her fingers stretched out, seeking that same touch.

There was a low breath, an urgent whisper.

"…Skye…"

Spade's eyelids felt like they weighed a ton. She opened her eyes slowly, trying to accustom her sight to the darkness. It took a few seconds to register that the floor she was sitting on was cold and covered with blood and water. She turned her head to the right, only to see a blank stone wall, and then to the left, where her green eyes wearily landed on Ace.

It was a surprise. Her eyes must have widened, flickered, something, for Ace's bloody face contorted into a brief grin.

"Hey…" he said. "Long time no see."

Spade could not think of anything to say except for an apathetic,

"Fuck you."

Ace looked surprised at her hostile response, but Spade was in too much pain to be angry. She had originally had the rant of a century prepared for Ace, telling him off for being stupid and going and _getting caught_ by _Blackbeard_, of all people, but amidst all the hours or days of torture she'd undergone, her speech had been whittled down to two measly words that she could not put much emotion behind.

"How long…" she breathed, "have you been here?"

"…I dunno," he said. "…Two weeks, maybe…you?"

"An hour…a day…a week…" she said tiredly. "I don't know."

"…_Why_ did you get caught, Skye?" said Ace. "You idiot—you could've run…"

"…Hey there, Jimbei," said Spade, effectively ignoring Ace.

The merman nodded his head to her in acknowledgment.

"Doing all right there, Skye Spade?" he said in his deep timbre.

"Never been better," she said, groaning as she moved her feet gingerly. "What floor are we on?"

"Level five, girly," said a voice from the cell across the hall. A figure moved into the dimly lit light. She recognized him—barely.

"Crocodile…" she said. "Nice to see you…"

"Been a long time, girly. Who woulda thought that the scrawny girl back with Strawhat's crew was the Spade in Ace of Spades? You don't seem like much, y'know."

"…Mm," she said, not willing to argue. "…Do we still get to go to torture sessions if we're put here?" The question was directed at no one in particular, but Ace was the one to answer.

"Not…really," he said, his breaths also labored. "We're pretty much too…incapacitated for them to…expect much from us."

"Mm…when is…your execution, Ace?" she said quietly.

There was no immediate answer. Spade turned to him, perplexed at his hesitation. His expression, even, was unsure and almost…guilty.

"I dunno," he said finally. "Couple o' days, I suspect. Maybe a week…"

"Good…" she said, her eyes closing as she leaned her head back on the wall. "That gives me some time to…rest…"

Something caught in Ace's throat as he tried to speak again. He cleared his throat, hesitating. Hesitation was an attribute that Ace hardly possessed—his decisions were always made quickly, whether for good or for bad.

"…Spit it out," said Spade.

"Skye…it's not just my execution," he said, his voice pained. "It's yours too."

"…What?"

"It's a public execution of the Ace of Spades, girly," said Crocodile's sneering voice. "Duos come in pairs, don't they? Ya can't have them go separately either."

Spade understood. It was not as shocking as she'd expected it to be.

"So we're dying together," she said simply.

"Something along those lines," said Crocodile.

It was funny that Ace was not the one replying. Spade could sense the guilt that he was feeling, as if he were the sole cause for both their looming demises.

She could not help it. She began to laugh—shaky laughs that caused her body to ache all the more, but those tremulous laughs that were so out of character for herself, even.

It should've been expected, of course. That the moment she was thrown in here, she would also be sentenced to death. She just hadn't thought about it. She'd just thought about saving Ace.

In retrospect, that had been so stupid. It was her life too. Why had she forgotten?

Was it because their lives were so intricately entwined that she'd forgotten which was which? That they really _were_ a pair, a duo that always came and went together. Origination came with them two—captain and vice captain from the Spade Pirate days. And now, death together? Death on a silver platter?

She could not believe it.

There was a clinking sound, like chains being moved. A second later, Spade felt fingers wrap around her own immobilized ones against the wall. She halted her laughter and looked at Ace, who did not return the gaze. His dark eyes were fixated on the floor. But he had stretched his chained wrist out to catch her own, offer some comfort. He was still feeling guilty.

She did not have much to say. What could she say? Chances of getting out alive were slim to none.

Spade just gripped his hand back in return and let her eyes flutter shut. She needed to think and regain any sense of control she had over her body. There was a way to get out. She just needed to find the right time.

* * *

Spade was beginning to register some patterns in mealtimes. Always the same masked guard. Not much food. A large broadax as a weapon. Not much light. A welcome fresh air from the right of the hallway, where the exit was. But she didn't know what was beyond it. And unless she could just tunnel her way directly up with her winds, there was a good chance that she wouldn't be able to get out of the maze. Maybe Ace could just live up to his name and send a column of fire directly up to create an exit.

But with their current physical states, maybe not.

She continued to bide her time. She wasn't ready, wasn't ever going to be ready…but her conscience urged to hurry up and try before it got too late.

Spade was frightened, though. The prospect of having broken legs…it scared her beyond belief. And so she continued to wait, thinking.

And while they waited, they talked. She, Ace, occasionally Jimbei or a snide comment from Crocodile and his cohorts. But for the most part, it was just her and Ace, so quietly that no one else could catch on to their conversation.

He asked her about the Tenryuubito.

"I heard from Teach," he said. "You're…a descendant."

"A castoff," she corrected.

"…What happened to your…mom?" he asked.

"Dead," was her blunt reply.

"Oh…mine too."

"Yeah, you…" She took in a deep breath. "You told me that before."

"…Right. So the…weird Tenryuubito guy's your dad?"

"Biologically…I guess," said Spade. "I don't consider…myself to have a father."

"Mm…I consider Whitebeard, ha," he said with a weak chuckle.

Her green eyes glanced over at him. Ace was wearing a wry smile of some sort.

"Who's your old man?" she questioned. "Biologically?"

Ace didn't answer, instead leaning his head on his shoulder. She noticed his arm stretch out in the familiar action to hold her hand.

"Don't," she said sharply. "It'll just make you more tired."

"Can't get any more tired than this, Skye," he said grimly.

"You never answered my question, Ace."

"…Doesn't matter," he said. "I don't care about him."

"Oh," she said with her bare remnants of sardonic humor, "and you think…I care about _mine_?"

"…He kill your mom?" he guessed.

"…Took one bullet," said Spade with a cold smile. "In the head…and then he…dropped an anchor on my legs."

"…A what?"

"Anchor. Those things you throw across the edge of a ship—"

"Yeah, I know what they are," said Ace shortly. "…Why?"

Spade mustered a snort. "For fun. To get rid of me…he then…dropped me off…in a random alleyway…with dogs and rats…"

Spade's legs tingled just at the memory of not being able to use them. The pain, the desperate feeling of…feeling nothing when she tried to utilize her feet.

"…Marines found you then," said Ace with finality.

"…Aokiji," she sighed. "Took me to Vegapunk…got a new set of legs…" Her eyes gazed at the wispy shadows of tattoos that encircled her calves. "Hah…now that I think about it…I owe a lot to the Marines…"

Her voice trailed off as she somehow drifted off to a stage of unconsciousness. It often happened—her stamina was not as great as Ace's, and she would doze off into a state of nothingness mid-sentence.

She did remember wiggling her toes though.

They still moved. That was a good sign.

She made a little smile. She would never get out of Impel Down on her own. The multiple levels was too much to go through.

She'd have to wait for the Marines to bring Ace and her up. To the surface, to the daylight.

It clicked in her head. The perfect time to use her legs' artificial bones.

On the surface. Under the sun. In fresh air and daylight, in front of Marines and pirates alike.

On the execution platform was really a perfect place to make a statement.

* * *

**Free Talk:**

Yes, it's been...a long time, to say the least. I'm sorry for the wait, the delay, the long unannounced hiatus. I'll start by saying thank you for your incredible degree of feedback and advice, as well as your patience in waiting for this chapter. I did find some closure with the last chapter of the OP manga after seeing Ace's grave, and I have decided what I'm going to do in regards to that aspect of the story.

A lot has happened since I last updated this, haha, so I'll just let you know that I've graduated and am currently working full-time over the summer, so updating might not be regular but I'll seriously try my best. Pinky promise. :)

Comments or questions are always greatly appreciated. I would love if everyone who gave me advice would also let me know their thoughts on the chapters! And thank you very much for bearing with me. Sorry again for such an extensive wait...it will not happen again!

So leave a review! :)

xoxo,  
m.n


End file.
